First 15 asylum seekers moved onto Bibby Stockholm barge

The first 15 asylum seekers are actually on board the controversial Bibby Stockholm barge, in line with the Home Office – though the federal government was unable to place one other 20 on the vessel.

Around 50 individuals have been anticipated to maneuver onboard the vessel, docked in Portland Port in Dorset, on Monday after weeks of delays to the scheme.

Cheryl Avery, the director for asylum lodging on the Home Office, stated the primary “cohort” had been “successfully onboarded”, however there had been “some challenges”.

Politics Live: Will UK ship migrants to Ascension Island if Rwanda coverage fails?

Those at present on the barge are anticipated to remain there for between three and 9 months whereas their claims are processed, she added.

The Bibby Stockholm is considered one of a variety of different websites the Home Office is utilizing to finish reliance on costly inns for asylum seekers, which the federal government says is costing £6m a day.

However, there was appreciable native opposition attributable to issues concerning the asylum seekers’ welfare and the affect on native companies.

Protesters gathered at Portland Harbour on Monday with welcome packs containing toiletries and get in touch with particulars of organisations providing assist to migrants.

Care4Calais claimed it had stopped round 20 asylum seekers from numerous places from boarding the barge, together with individuals who have disabilities, individuals who have had traumatic experiences crossing the ocean and victims of torture and fashionable slavery.

The charity stated it is going to proceed working with asylum seekers who do not wish to be moved into the lodging.

Ms Avery stated she couldn’t go into particulars about particular person authorized circumstances, however the gives of housing on the barge have been on a “no choice basis”.

She wouldn’t verify when the Bibby Stockholm would attain its 500-person capability however stated {that a} “phased and controlled approach” could be taken.

The 222-bedroom barge will in the end maintain 500 single males, with numbers anticipated to extend steadily over time.

There have been delays to transferring individuals to the location after security issues have been raised, with the Fire Brigades Union branding it a “potential death trap” and warning concerning the threat of overcrowding.

Downing Street urged Home Office minister Sarah Dines misspoke when she stated earlier on Monday that the lodging may attain full capability by the top of the week.

Asked concerning the remark, the prime minister’s official spokesman stated: “We are looking to (reach) that number over time – I don’t think we are aiming to do it by the weekend.”

Ms Dines advised Sky News the barge “sends a forceful message” that individuals who cross the Channel shall be housed in lodging that’s “proper… but not luxury” – claiming inns are a part of the “pull” issue attracting individuals to the UK.

Read extra:
Asylum seekers face dropping assist if they do not board barge
Home Office should work thrice sooner to clear backlog

Hotels now housing 50,000 asylum seekers

The arrival of individuals on the barge coincided with a launch of information by the federal government exhibiting the variety of asylum seekers dwelling in inns – paid for by the taxpayer – had climbed to greater than 50,000.

Labour contrasted this with Home Secretary Suella Braverman saying there have been 40,000 individuals within the lodging in December final yr.

In complete, 50,546 individuals have been being housed in inns as of 30 June 2023.

This comes after Rishi Sunak promised to “stop the boats” in January. In December final yr he claimed within the House of Commons that his authorities had “already identified locations that could accommodate 10,000 people” – and was planning to search out extra.

A complete of 339 individuals crossed the Channel on Friday and Saturday, with none making the journey on Sunday throughout unhealthy climate.

Total arrivals thus far for 2023 stand at 15,071, which is 15% down on final yr, the most recent figures recommend.

However, that’s considerably larger than the ten,703 arrivals that had been detected at this level in 2021.

Shadow house secretary Yvette Cooper stated: “Rishi Sunak is failing to fix the Tories’ boats chaos and the Conservatives are just flailing around chasing headlines rather than getting a grip.”

Barge ‘paying homage to jail hulks from the Victorian period’

Steve Valdez-Symonds, Amnesty International UK’s refugee and migrant rights director, stated: “It seems there’s nothing this government won’t do to make people seeking asylum feel unwelcome and unsafe in this country.

“Reminiscent of the jail hulks from the Victorian period, the Bibby Stockholm is an completely shameful technique to home individuals who’ve fled terror, battle and persecution.”

He added that “quite than wrecking the asylum system”, the government “ought to pretty and effectively decide individuals’s claims as an alternative of perpetuating pricey backlogs, human distress and organised prison exploitation”.

Alongside the barge, the federal government needs to accommodate individuals in navy websites and marquees.

Multiple experiences have additionally urged the federal government is re-visiting plans for a processing centre in Ascension Island within the South Atlantic Ocean, if the long-touted Rwanda deportation scheme doesn’t get off the bottom.

Home Office minister Ms Dines wouldn’t verify or deny the plan however stated the federal government was “looking at all options”.

She stated on Monday morning “times change” and that the small boats disaster had turn into “urgent” when requested why the plan was reportedly being reconsidered after seemingly being rejected by Boris Johnson’s former authorities.

Downing Street additionally refused to be drawn on the “speculation” and stated it’s assured its plan to deport individuals to the east African nation shall be profitable within the courts.

This week is the federal government’s unofficial “small boats week”, the place it needs to speak about its efforts to get a grip on the variety of individuals crossing the English Channel on a small boat.

Read More:
What’s it like on board the Bibby Stockholm?
The college students exploiting their college visas to remain within the UK

Labour’s Ms Cooper added: “The prime minister admitted last December that hotel use was a serious problem and promised to end it, but instead since then it has gone up by a truly shocking 25% with more asylum hotels still opening, and the taxpayer having to pay billions more pounds as a result.

“This is the direct consequence of Tory mismanagement and their disastrous failure to hurry up asylum selections or clear the backlog which remains to be at a document excessive.”