How is the gigantic “floating prison” to which the United Kingdom is taking asylum-seeking migrants

The British Government has begun housing asylum-seeking migrants on the huge barge known as the Bibby Stockholm, which is anchored in the port of Portland, southwest of England.

This Monday, the first 50 people were transferred to the bargeas part of a project of the Prime Minister’s government Rishi Sunak to reduce the cost of hosting the 51,000 immigrants currently staying in hotels.

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But the measure also seeks to discourage those who are thinking of applying asylum in it United Kingdom.

People carrying bags enter the accommodation barge Bibby Stockholm, tied to the dock in Portland Harbor on August 7, 2023. (Photo by Ben Stansall / AFP) (BEN STANSALL/)

The government says it currently spends US$7 million a day on hotel accommodation for about 51,000 migrants who are waiting for their procedures to be answered.

According to the government’s plan, the boat will house asylum seekers for a period of 18 months.

How is the huge barge?

bibby Stockholm It is a barge 93 meters long and 27 meters wide. It has been modified to install 222 cabins and thus be able to receive up to 500 single migrants who are requesting asylum in the United Kingdom.

One of the rooms on the Bibby Stockholm accommodation barge, on July 21, 2023. (Photo by Andrew Matthews / AFP) (ANDREW MATTHEWS/)

In July, journalists from the BBC and other media had access to the boat and described how it is inside.

BBC Mundo was able to verify that the cabins are relatively spacious and include a desk, closet, safe, TV, and large windows.

Each room has an ensuite shower room and there are additional facilities on each of the three floors of the bargeindicates the British medium.

One of the bathrooms on the accommodation barge Bibby Stockholm. (Photo by Andrew Matthews / AFP). (ANDREW MATTHEWS/)

The barge It has a TV room with a big screen and sofas, a prayer room for various religious denominations, and a classroom that can be used for meetings and other activities.

A room for residents to watch television aboard the accommodation barge Bibby Stockholm. (Photo by Andrew Matthews / AFP). (ANDREW MATTHEWS/)

BBC Mundo also points out that some other common spaces have been converted into bedrooms that can accommodate up to six men.

He dining room It has tables for six people.

Tables and chairs in the dining area of ​​the Bibby Stockholm accommodation barge. (Photo by Andrew Matthews / AFP). (ANDREW MATTHEWS/)

There is also a gym and an outdoor recreational space in the two patios that are located in the center of the barge.

The gym aboard the accommodation barge Bibby Stockholm. (Photo by Andrew Matthews / AFP). (ANDREW MATTHEWS/)

According to BBC Mundo, asylum seekers will have access to the pier, but within a fenced area. The authorities explained that the measure seeks to guarantee the security of the port, where cruise ships, cargo ships and navy vessels also dock.

BBC Mundo specifies that men will receive medical attention aboard the barge or remotely.

Buses will be available every hour between 09:00 am and 11:00 pm to take students asylum seekers to Portland or Weymouth.

“Some of the journalists on our visit felt that the standard is better than some of the hotels that currently house asylum seekers in United Kingdom. Of course, our stay only lasted an hour.” indicates the BBC World report.

A view of the yard of the Bibby Stockholm accommodation barge. (Photo by Andrew Matthews / AFP). (ANDREW MATTHEWS/)

Organizations that defend human rights, such as Amnesty International, have criticized the transfer of migrants to the barge. The director of the rights of migrants and refugees of that NGO, Steve Valdez-Symonds, said Monday that it is “a completely shameful way of sheltering people who have fled terror, conflict and persecution”.

”Housing people on a floating barge is likely to cause trauma again”, he added.

Migrant advocacy NGO Care4Calais denounced a “cruel” and “inhumane” system, arguing that some asylum seekers “survived torture and modern slavery, and had traumatic experiences at sea.”

“People who have been forced to flee their homes have already experienced unimaginable trauma. They need stability, support, to be able to keep in touch with their loved ones and to feel safe. Not this”, said Alex Fraser, director of the UK Red Cross, to the newspaper ‘The Guardian’.

While in Portland, the project caused controversy and angered neighbors who fear for their safety. Others claim that it is a “floating jail”indicated the AFP agency.

At the moment, the port of Portland is the only one who accepted the installation of those barges and other projects were canceled due to the lack of mooring ports, AFP assured.

Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick defended the move in July, saying the government had been “clear that those who come to the UK illegally should not be housed in expensive hotels”.

“Our use of alternative accommodation sites and boats provides basic and appropriate standards in the face of the arrival of small boats (with migrants) while their requests are defined,” he pointed.

A seagull flies over the Bibby Stockholm as it undergoes renovation in Falmouth on the Cornish coast in south west England on May 11, 2023. (Photo by Ben Stansall / AFP) (BEN STANSALL/)

According to Euronews, Bibby Stockholm has been used on previous occasions in Europe to house the homeless, as a floating detention center and was even the subject of a bomb threat.

It was built in 1976 by the Dutch company Nederlandse Scheepsbouw and since 1992 it is an accommodation barge.

Its current owner is the British company Bibby Lane.

In the late 1990s, bibby stockholm provided 52 overnight beds to homeless people in hamburgGermany, reported Euronews.

The authorities of Germany they resorted to the barge as an emergency measure to ensure that during “winter no one has to sleep on the street,” Hamburg’s Senator for Social Affairs Helgrit Fischer-Menzel declared at the time.

In 2005, it was used as a detention center for asylum seekers in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

in february 2008, an Algerian asylum seeker, identified as Rachid Abdelsalam, died of heart failure on board the barge.

Fellow detainees claim that, although they warned the guards of Rachid’s deteriorating health, the door to his cell was only opened two hours after his death, as reported in 2012 by the control organization State Watch, according to Euronews. .

Subsequently, in 2013 the company Petrofac used Bibby Stockholm to house workers at the Scottish Shetland gas plant, in the North Sea.

Euronews reports that in 2015 a disgruntled former worker alerted emergency services that bombs had been planted on the barge, which was in the port of Lerwick on the Shetland Islands. The information turned out to be false.

In April this year, the British Government announced that it would use the barge to accommodate asylum seekers..

Source: Elcomercio