People seeking refuge who were ordered to live on a controversial giant barge have been reprieved after legal challenges claimed the vessel was unsafe and unsuitable for traumatised people.
As the first tranche of 15 people were moved on to the Bibby Stockholm in Portland, Dorset, lawyers say they are intervening to halt the transfer of dozens more on to the 220-bedroom vessel.
The developments come as the Home Office fulfilled Rishi Sunak’s promise to use barges and former military bases to accommodate some asylum seekers after the cost of housing them in hotels rose to £1.9bn pounds last year.
But their use has been condemned by refugee organisations for being costly, cruel and inhumane. The Fire Brigades Union has described the barge as “a deathtrap” because of overcrowding and narrow corridors and exits.
The Home Office faces a new wave of legal action if it resists formal appeals to remove asylum seekers from consideration because of mental health issues, physical conditions and other vulnerabilities.
The refugee charity Care4Calais said it had stopped 20 people from being forced to board the barge so far, with dozens more referrals coming in “by the hour” from other refugees staying in hotels.
“None of the asylum seekers we are supporting have gone to the Bibby Stockholm today as legal representatives have had their transfers cancelled,” said Steve Smith, the charity’s chief executive.
“Among our clients are people who are disabled, who have survived torture and modern slavery and who have had traumatic experiences at sea. To house any human being in a ‘quasi floating prison’ like the Bibby Stockholm is inhumane. To try to do so to this group of people is unbelievably cruel.”
Wilsons, the immigration solicitors, is working with Migrants Organise to represent clients who received official notices saying they would be moved to the barge “imminently”.
Brian Dikoff of Migrants Organise said: “We had very serious concerns about safety onboard and that the Home Office would not properly screen or safeguard individuals planned to be moved to the barge and we are now seeing these concerns become reality.”
Coaches were seen arriving at the dockside in Portland on Monday morning, and were greeted by local residents holding welcome signs.
Cheryl Avery, the Home Office’s director for asylum accommodation, said 15 people had been moved on to the vessel, adding that there had been “some minor legal challenges” but would not comment on the detail.
The prime minister is under pressure to remove people from hotels because of a soaring backlog of asylum cases that have not been processed by the Home Office.
Labour accused the government of “disastrous failure” after official figures confirmed the number of people seeking refuge staying in hotels had passed 50,000.
Yvette Cooper, the shadow home secretary, said the data showed a “shocking” 25% increase from 40,000 in December, when Sunak promised to end the placement of people seeking refuge in hotel accommodation.
According to latest Home Office figures released on Monday, 50,546 people seeking refuge were being housed in hotels as of June this year.
The first arrivals on the Bibby Stockholm came amid confusion over the government’s migration policies at the start of Sunak’s “small boats week”, during which the government is planning a series of related announcements.
Earlier on Monday, the minister Sarah Dines said the Bibby Stockholm barge could reach its full 500-person capacity by the end of the week. But No 10 later appeared to suggest she had misspoken and that numbers would instead increase “over time” as the government attempts to speed up the delayed arrival of people on to the vessel.
Dines also claimed that “all possibilities” for tackling the the number of small boats in the Channel were being examined, after reports that the government was reviving plans to fly people who arrive by unauthorised means 4,000 miles (6,500km) to Ascension Island in the South Atlantic.
Whitehall sources have indicated the plans are not being pursued. The prime minister’s official spokesperson would not comment on “speculation”.
Jacob Rees-Mogg, who was a cabinet minister when the Ascension plans were first considered, said the idea was dropped because it would have cost £1m for each person.
He told GB News: “You’ve got to send out Portakabin residences for your builders, then you’ve got builders who have to live there whilst they’re doing the building, then you have to build the premises for the migrants to live in, then you’ve got to persuade people that they want to go and live on Ascension Island for long periods to run the centre.”
The barge, which is being docked for at least 18 months, is one of three sites at which ministers aim to have about 3,000 asylum seekers accommodated by the autumn. The other two are the former RAF bases Wethersfield in Essex and Scampton in Lincolnshire.
Labour has said that it would continue to use the barge for “a very short-term period” if it won the next election, blaming “the complete and utter chaos and shambles of the Tory asylum crisis”.
A Home Office spokesperson said: “The first asylum seekers are now being housed on the vessel in Portland after it successfully completed all health, fire and safety checks. The number of people on board will increase gradually with more arrivals later this week and in the coming months, as part of a carefully structured phased approach.
“This marks a further step forward in the government’s work to bring forward alternative accommodation options as part of its pledge to reduce the use of expensive hotels and move to a more orderly, sustainable system which is more manageable for local communities. This is a tried and tested approach that mirrors that taken by our European neighbours, the Scottish government and offers better value for the British taxpayer.”
