Described as “luxury living” by the company that leases it, the government revealed its plans to house around 500 asylum seekers on a floating barge off the coast of Dorset on Wednesday.
Set to be stationed in Portland, the three-story Bibby Stockholm is proposed as an alternative to housing refugees and asylum seekers in hotels. Only “single adult males” are to be housed onboard, the Home Office has confirmed.
Operated by Liverpool-based Bibby Marine Limited, the 93 metre-long vessel is currently located in Genoa, Italy.
With “natural ventilation and wi-fi connection throughout”, it accommodates up to 506 guests across 222 bedrooms, furnished with a gym, bar, restaurant and multiple games rooms.
The barge will “provide basic and functional accommodation, and healthcare provision, catering facilities and 24/7 security will be in place on board, to minimise the disruption to local communities”, a Home Office spokesperson said.
The Bibby Stockholm was used to detain asylum seekers in the Netherlands in the 2000s, but was taken out of service after an undercover investigation by a Dutch newspaper uncovered mistreatment by prison officers, rapes by migrants and fire safety failings.
Several migrants imprisoned on ships in the Netherlands are reported to have died, including an Algerian man on the Bibby Stockholm in 2008.
After a refurbishment, it was used as accommodation for Petrofac workers constructing a gas plant in Shetland.
These pictures from inside the barge show bedrooms, an eating area and a gym.
But Mayor of Portland Peter Roper has expressed concern over the “basic” healthcare facilities offered onboard. On Wednesday, he told BBC Radio 4 Today’s programme that Portland’s health services have already “diminished” over the years.
"The fact sheet (about barge facilities) does say basic healthcare facilities ... there’s not (any) definition of that," he said.
"If there’s anything more serious, the individuals on the barge will probably have to go over to Weymouth or the Dorset General Hospital up in Dorchester. It’s not just putting a load on the area of Portland but also of south Dorset itself."
And local Conservative MP Richard Drax has expressed that the barge is being “dumped on our door” without consultation by the Home Office.
“We want to get this consigned to the dustbin before anything’s signed,” he said. “We want to activate ourselves and say, ‘look, home secretary, sorry – this is not the right place, can you please cancel this’”, Mr Drax stated.
Amnesty International UK called the announcement “political theatre created to obscure its gross mismanagement of the asylum system”, and said self-inflicted costs were being used by the government to “justify further hardline and reckless policies”.
Immigration minister Robert Jenrick has argued using the barge will save public money, and insists the move will “prevent the UK becoming a magnet.”
“All accommodation will meet our legal obligations and we will work closely with the local community to address their concerns, including through financial support,” he said on Wednesday.
