The government is considering housing as many as 1,800 asylum seekers on a vessel moored off the Wirral, the ECHO understands.
Local politicians and charities have raised concerns about the plans, which would form part of the government's highly controversial new policy for placing newly arrived migrants on barges, cruise ships, disused ferries and military bases and other vessels that have been described by some as 'floating prisons.'
The ECHO understands that any such boat could be moored on water in Birkenhead, close to Wirral Waters - which is a £4.5bn waterfront development currently being built by the Peel Group. Peel Ports owns and operates the waters and port infrastructure in the Birkenhead area and says it will only go ahead with the plans with full engagement with the local authority.
The government has not directly confirmed the Wirral plan, but says it is looking at moving asylum seekers out of hotels and onto barges and ferries in a bid to cut down on costs. Charities say that if applications for asylum were being properly processed then no such measures would be required.
READ MORE: Family plea as tributes paid to Hillsborough survivor who died after Paris chaos
Speaking about the potential Wirral plans, Wallasey MP Angela Eagle said: "I think this policy is an admission of failure. If the government was doing its day job properly and processing asylum applications properly then we would not be in this position.
"Wirral Waters is a huge regeneration project, it doesn't have transport links to local services. So these people would be stored on what effectively resembles a floating prison without any links to those services. There has been no advanced consultation with local leaders. The way they are handling this just reeks of incompetence."
Hotels in the Wallasey and Hoylake area of Wirral are currently being used to house asylum seekers. It is not clear if the plan would be to move those currently based in these hotels onto a vessel in the water off the peninsular.
Clare Mosley is the founder of the national Care4Calais charity, who also lives in Wirral. She said: "It has been encouraging and heart-warming to see the response of the local community to asylum seekers in Wallasey and Hoylake. We know the Wirral is a tolerant and welcoming place.
"However placing a high number of people in confined housing on our shores will place a strain on the local community and on local services. This type of accommodation does not give asylum seekers access to the community support that they need.
"Both the cost and the harm is entirely unnecessary. If the government simply processed people’s asylum claims they could work, contribute to society and would not need to cost taxpayers a penny."
The Association of Visitors to Immigration Detainees (AVID), also hit out at the plans. A spokesperson said: "The Home Office's plan to accommodate people seeking sanctuary in barges is nothing short of an affront to humanity. This government is literally floating a hate target for the far-right and making a spectacle out of it.
"We cannot allow such a deplorable and inhumane practice to continue. It is deeply troubling that the government's answer to the crisis is to put vulnerable people in a precarious and dangerous position."
Speaking about riots that erupted outside a hotel housing asylum seekers in Kirkby earlier in the year, the charity added: "The situation in Merseyside is already tense, and the Knowsley incident earlier this year highlighted just how dangerous it can be for asylum seekers. The fact that the government is willing to subject individuals seeking refuge to such a risk is beyond belief.
"We call on the people of Wirral and all communities to stand together and show compassion for those who have had to flee their homes in search of safety. Let us not be divided by hate and fear, but instead let us unite in support of those who need our help the most."
Chris Young is the founder of Refugee Assist, which is a Wirral organisation supporting refugees and asylum seekers in the UK. He said: "Of the many people, our fellow human beings, that will be housed in these floating accommodation blocks, many will have fled war and persecution by way of travelling across water, maybe not just once if fleeing African countries.
"Accommodating them on water will trigger many traumas. There will be parents that crossed with children who may have been lost at sea, friends and family likewise and we cannot comprehend what they have been through to find safety. Just remember, it could be any of us that require to seek asylum if the need arise. These are our fellow human beings."
A Home Office spokesperson said: “The number of people arriving in the UK who require accommodation has reached record levels and has put our asylum system under incredible strain.
“We have been clear that the use of hotels to house asylum seekers is unacceptable – there are currently more than 51,000 asylum seekers in hotels costing the UK taxpayer £6 million a day.
“We have to use alternative accommodation options, as our European neighbours are doing – including the use of barges and ferries to save the British taxpayer money and to prevent the UK becoming a magnet for asylum shoppers in Europe.”
A spokesperson for Peel Ports said: “We have provided a berth for a vessel accommodating refugees in Glasgow for the last year and this has worked well thanks to the willing participation of the local authority and their collaboration with the vessel’s management team and the port operations.
"We have similar port infrastructure available in Birkenhead that can be provided for the same purpose. We have been clear throughout discussions that this model can only work successfully with the full engagement and support of the local authority and other relevant stakeholders."
READ NEXT:
Man, 20, killed after Audi collides with tree
Family plea as tributes paid to Hillsborough survivor who died after Paris chaos
Coronation Street's Helen Flanagan stuns in £215 Karen Millen dress
'I thought he was going to kill me so I pushed him out the window'
