Explainer: The first asylum seekers boarding the Bibby Stockholm barge
The first asylum seekers boarded the Bibby Stockholm today. The barge, located in Portland, was chosen by the government to host 500 men waiting for a decision on their asylum application.
The controversial plan has been plagued by delays – the first groups to arrive were expected much earlier in the summer, but worries over fire safety and security meant further checks were carried out.
Last week, a local authority whistleblower described the conditions on the barge as so dangerous that it could become a “floating Grenfell” because of fire safety risks. There are only two main exits, and according to reports no lifejackets either.
The government has justified the barge by saying it’s been used before, to house asylum seekers in the Netherlands and Germany and also as a temporary home for offshore workers. But when it was used in the Netherlands, around 2008, a man died from a cardiac arrest. Other individuals living on the barge claimed he hadn’t received proper medical care, and denounced conditions on the barge as not fit for habitation. It’s far from the first time the barge presents problems.
This time the capacity has been increased exponentially: there are 222 cabins, but the asylum seekers hosted will be up to 500, plus the personnel who will work on the barge.
The barge has also been criticised as the men living on it will have to notify whenever they leave as the port is a secured area. There will be shuttles getting them out of the port. Their permanence on the boat risks becoming a very isolated experience, one that critics have likened to prison or quasi-detention.
The men will arrive in groups of 50 or so, to avoid an initial sense of overcrowding and manage the move-in more swiftly. After the group who set foot on the barge at lunchtime, more are expected to arrive later in the day.
The cabins are small, with bunk beds and en-suite bathrooms. Some rooms are bigger with two or three bunk beds in them. Security guards will be on the barge 24/7.
Now that asylum seekers have effectively moved on the barge, the real test for government begins. They’ll have to prove that the plan works, that conditions are safe and that the strategy is better than housing people in hotels.
Sunak might also want to reconsider his obsession with “stopping the boats”, after figures released last week showed 30,000 individuals who applied for asylum last year got into the UK through other irregular routes, including in the back of lorries or on ferries.