The British Government announced this Wednesday that it will house nearly 500 asylum seekers on a ship with 222 cabins anchored off the coast of Dorset (south of England). For now, the ship is in the port of Genoa to leave for the United Kingdom, which could take place in the next few hours.
The Bibby Stockholm, a three-story barge built in 1976 that was used by the Netherlands two decades ago to house immigrants, will reduce London's hotel bill to accommodate newcomers and provide a "tidy, cost-effective" system and sustainable" to manage their accommodation, said the Ministry of the Interior.
The controversial measure has raised opposition among non-governmental organizations and local authorities in Dorset, which are considering taking legal action to try to prevent such plans.
"We will not put the interests of illegal immigrants above those of the British citizens who have chosen us to serve them," Secretary of State for Immigration Robert Jenrick said in a statement.
"We must use alternative accommodation options, as our European neighbors do, including the use of these barges and ferries, to save the British taxpayer money and avoid making the UK a magnet for asylum buyers in Europe," he added.
The Prime Minister himself, Rishi Sunak, in statements to the media, assured that the use of the boat is part of his plan to stop the arrival of small boats in the United Kingdom, by taking asylum seekers out of hotels to put them in other places.
The boat will house asylum seekers for at least 18 months, according to the Executive's initial plans.
"We as a country spend 6 million pounds (6.85 million euros) a day housing illegal asylum seekers in hotels: that can't be right," he said.
Amnesty International (AI) UK Director for Refugees and Migrants Rights Steve Valdez-Symonds urged London to reverse its decision.
"Confining hundreds of people in an isolated barge is nothing more than the continuation of the political theater that the government has created to hide its serious errors in the management of the asylum system," Valdez-Symonds said in a statement.
"Anyone seeking asylum in this country should be accommodated in decent accommodation, with adequate facilities," as well as assurances that their claim "is processed properly," he added.
On immigration measures, the UK government announced last week that migrants crossing the English Channel in small boats will be housed on military bases, Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick said. Addressing criticism of the growing number of migrants staying in hotels, Jenrick said the government planned to "provide basic accommodation" at military bases in the south-east and east of England.
The decision to put migrants in military barracks has been criticized by human rights groups, with even British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly expressing concern about the use of a base in his constituency.
The illegal migration bill has been criticized by activists, with the Council of Europe saying it contravened London's international obligations. Human trafficking experts on the Council expressed “deep concern” about the plan.
