People across Tyneside have signed an open letter calling on the Port of Tyne to refuse to take part in Government plans to accommodate people seeking asylum on a giant barge on the Tyne.
Bibby Stockholm - a huge three-storey barge which will house around 500 migrants - is set to arrive in Portland Harbour, in Dorset, this month. And reports in The Guardian in June suggested that talks had been held over the Government securing more barges and disused cruise ships, with Tyneside listed as one of numerous possible destinations where a barge could be docked.
It has prompted hundreds of local residents, refugee groups, and councillors to sign an open letter from Asylum Matters - a charity that works to improve the lives of refugees and people seeking asylum through campaigning -which is addressed to the Port of Tyne calling on them to refuse to take part in any Government plans to accommodate people seeking asylum on a barge on the Tyne, warning that the plans would create a "floating prison".
