The refugee crisis and Bibby Stockholm housing barge fiasco in UK

The Bibby Stockholm, which docked off the Dorset Coast last month, was supposed to house as many as 500 refugees. A few dozen refugees were sent on board and then swiftly removed due to the discovery of Legionnaire’s disease in the water supply of the barge.

The authorities had hoped to eventually transfer as many as 500 men between the ages of 18 and 65 to the three storey floating accommodation block while they await the outcome of their asylum applications.

We have had a few challenges but this is part of an ongoing structured process to bring a cohort of up to 500 people on board.

There have been some challenges, some minor legal challenges, and I can't go into the detail of those ... accommodation is offered to all individuals on a no choice basis.

Cheryl Avery, Director for Asylum Accommodation

• UK under fire over controversial immigration policy.
  

  UK under fire over controversial immigration policy

  Britain has moved dozens of asylum-seekers to a large residential barge on its southern coast.

The decision to house refugees on the barge was made despite safety warnings from the Fire Brigades Union (FBU), which raised concerns over the narrow exits and possible overcrowding.

The government says it wants to "limit the pull factors" attracting asylum seekers to Britain.

The authorities claim more than 50,000 are currently living in hotels, having made the final part of their journey across the English Channel in small dinghies.

Accommodation for migrants should meet their essential living needs and nothing more, because we cannot risk becoming a magnet for the millions of people who are displaced and seeking better economic prospects.

I've said before that we have to suffuse our entire system with deterrence, and this must include how we house illegal migrants.

Robert Jenrick, UK Minister of State for Immigration

• Asylum-seekers moved to Bibby Stockholm barge
  

  Britain moves 1st group of asylum-seekers to Bibby Stockholm barge

  Thousands of asylum-seekers annually travel to Britain on small dinghies, risking their lives to cross the English Channel.

Officials say this is costing the taxpayer more than 6 million pounds a day.

They say plans for alternative accommodation, including two more barges and three ex military bases in East Sussex, Essex and Lancashire, offered better value for money. However, the full costs of the barge have not been disclosed.

The refugee campaign group 'Reclaim the Sea', claims that housing the asylum seekers on the Bibby Stockholm would cost more than housing them at hotels.

The Home Office has ramped up hostile policies towards refugees in a bid to reduce the number of small boat crossings in the face of the European migrant crisis.

... it's a little bit reasonable but of course, one of the issues we have with this situation, this barge, is that there isn't transparency about the money that they're saving.

So on the one hand, I understand trying to save taxpayer money, but on the other hand, there's no transparency about if this is even saving money at all.

And furthermore, the real issue is the backlog. Resources should go into addressing the backlog of asylum seekers rather than putting them on barges for an undetermined amount of time.

Devon Cone, Senior Advisor, Refugees International

• Illegal migrants come to UK because it destabilized their countries
  

  Illegal migrants come to UK because it destabilized their countries: Ex-Diplomat

  Peter Ford, a former UK diplomat, tells the Press TV website that the problem of illegal migration is the making of the UK and its Western allies, who have caused these countries to become failed states with direct invasions, proxy wars and sanctions

Plans to house migrants on the vessel sparked controversy in Britain. Some human rights groups have called the scheme inhumane but ministers insist that it is safe and will save money.

Amnesty International compared the Bibby Stockholm to prison hulks from the Victorian era, saying it was an utterly shameful way to house people who fled terror, conflict and persecution.

Other human rights groups have also voiced concern over the decision by London to house migrants on the barge.

Freedom from Torture, which provides therapeutic care for survivors of torture seeking protection in the UK, is amongst those groups. It says the government should stop forcing refugees to live in unsafe and undignified accommodation.

The refugee charity 'Care for Calais' has also said the move to house refugees on the Bibby Stockholm is "causing a huge amount of anxiety".

This was not long before the discovery of ‘Legionella” in the water supply of the Bibby Stockholm after the first group of refugees had moved in.

• Backlash over UK inhumane treatment of migrants
  

  Backlash over UK inhumane treatment of migrants

  This is one of the UK

What you've got is a situation where people who've been through, potentially, torture, detention, kidnapping, conflict, persecution, possibly risk at sea maybe crossing the med or the channel being almost picked at random to be shoved on board the barge.

Steve Smith, Care4Calais, Chief Executive

The number of people risking the treacherous crossing between Britain and France has been fueled by war, global inequality and the climate crisis. 

45,755 people are said to have crossed in small boats in 2022, heaping pressure on an immigration system, which critics warn, is broken and underfunded.

• Over 45,000 immigrants crossed English Channel to UK in 2022
  

  Over 45,000 immigrants crossed English Channel to UK in 2022

  A record number of over 45000 migrants crossed the English Channel to the UK from mainland Europe in 2022, surpassing the previous year

The use of the Bibby Stockholm is part of a raft of measures by the Conservative government, intended to slash the cost of housing migrants in hotels and ease the backlog of unprocessed asylum claims, without regard to human rights.

The government is pushing through an unlawful migration bill which would allow it to detain and remove undocumented migrants from the country and send them to a third country such as Rwanda.

• ‘Profoundly shameful’: Britain’s anti-asylum bill sparks massive outcry
  

  ‘Profoundly shameful’: Britain’s anti-asylum bill sparks massive outcry

  In a controversial move smacking of disregard for human rights, the UK House of Lords has approved an anti-asylum bill, sparking massive anger and outrage from civil rights groups.

It's not all right but it's certainly a method they're trying to use that they hope will be successful. But honestly, what we've seen is that that kind of behavior is not successful.

Those kinds of policies that try to engage in deterrence and try to deter migrants and asylum seekers from coming, just don't work.

I mean, some of these harsh policies have resulted in a little bit of decrease of asylum seekers [sic] and migration, but very little, it's not significant.

And so you know, it's one thing if they're, if they're an okay policy [sic], it's another thing if they don't even work at all.

So I think that it's not in anyone's best interests.

Devon Cone, Senior Advisor, Refugees International

The curious case of missing refugee children from govt.-run UK hotels

The curious case of missing refugee children from govt.-run UK hotels

Hundreds of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children who were placed in British government-run asylum hotels have vanished into thin air with authorities clueless of their whereabouts.

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