A prominent human rights activist who has been warned that he may be moved to the Bibby Stockholm barge has said he would prefer to die on the streets than go there after it was suspected someone killed themselves on the barge.
Yao Hui Charles Yeo, 33 – a lawyer, activist and opposition politician in Singapore – claimed asylum in the UK after being persecuted and imprisoned in his home country. He has a diagnosis of Asperger syndrome and a degenerative disc condition, which causes “moderate to severe” back pain, according to medical reports seen by the Guardian. He is also suffering from trauma as a result of a previous near drowning incident.
Yeo is named on a list of at-risk human rights activists and lawyers defending people on death row drawn up by various UN rapporteurs.
His lawyer, Naga Kandiah of MTC Solicitors, has submitted medical evidence to the Home Office arguing that due to his physical and mental vulnerabilities he is unsuitable for being accommodated on the barge, which is moored in Portland, Dorset.
The Home Office initially said he would be moved to the barge on 6 December but in a message to him on Tuesday evening said that officials are still considering whether or not to move him.
“If suitability is maintained you will be provided with a new travel date to Bibby Stockholm,” the message states. Yeo said he remains fearful of being imminently transferred to the barge.
In the new Rwanda bill, the bar is very high for individual appeals against sending asylum seekers to the east African country. Lawyers representing asylum seekers have told the Guardian that the bar appears to be similarly high for those claiming they are unsuitable for the Bibby Stockholm barge due to mental or physical health problems.
Kandiah said: “We are appalled by the government’s approach, implementing these impractical and inhumane measures which target some of the most vulnerable people in society. Our client is medically unsuitable for confinement on a barge and has submitted compelling evidence to the Home Office in support of his claim.”
Yeo told the Guardian on Tuesday: “After hearing about the reported suicide on the Bibby Stockholm barge earlier today I am very scared to go there. I feel very traumatised after hearing about this death. I feel it’s unsafe to house asylum seekers on a barge like this one. It is very overcrowded and it is difficult for people who have survived torture to live together in these conditions.”
He added that after spending time in prison in Singapore the threat of being sent to the barge is causing more damage to his mental health.
“I am so traumatised by my near drowning experience I am unable to speak about it. My UK doctor has written to the Home Office to say the barge is not a suitable place for me due to my Asperger’s, my back problem and my near drowning experience. When I got the letter telling me I was going to the barge I panicked. I would rather die on the street than go to the barge.”
A Home Office spokesperson said: “All asylum seekers are screened to protect vulnerable individuals and ensure they are placed in suitable accommodation. They have access to health and social care services, including support for mental health, from point of arrival in the UK and will continue to while housed in asylum accommodation.
“It is longstanding government policy that we do not comment on individual cases.”
