The UK Government commenced a novel scheme of accommodating asylum seekers on a residential barge situated in Portland this week. The initiation of this unconventional measure marks the government’s intention to progressively increase the number of asylum seekers lodged on such similar provision over the ensuing months. The barge christened ‘Bibby Stockholm’ was initially boarded by a group of 15 asylum seekers on Monday.
This adoption of an alternative accommodation methodology forms an element of a broader plan by the UK Home Office to accommodate a total of 500 asylum seekers. These individuals are provisionally anticipated to remain on board for periods ranging from three to nine months as they navigate through the formal asylum seeking procedure within the UK jurisdiction.
The elevated appeal of this method, according to the Home Office, can be attributed to the financial sustainability it provides along with making the task of harboring asylum seekers more “manageable for local communities”. It claims to offer an improved economical solution for the British taxpayers as compared to the costly option of hotel accommodations. The Home Office also reports that the vessel housing the asylum seekers has cleared all health, safety, and fire audits.
Notwithstanding, the scheme has not gone unchallenged with legal disputes labeled as “minor” by the Home Office. Albeit specific details about such issues haven’t been disclosed, it has been confirmed that a contingent of twenty asylum seekers has declined to embark upon the barge. Presently, the accommodations aboard the barge are allocated to individuals on a “no choice” basis, and the feasibility of modifying this procedure rests for future consideration by the administration.
The introduction of this method follows the recent enactment of the Illegal Migration Act into the UK law, which stipulates that any individual who infiltrates the UK “illegally” cannot assert their rightful claim to asylum. Simultaneously, the contentious “Rwanda Plan” of the UK Government remains under judicial review after its previous ruling of being unlawful was decreed by the Court of Appeal.
This evolving development has evoked criticism from numerous human rights organizations. Amnesty UK, for instance, has vehemently condemned this new accommodation scheme as “disgraceful”, associating the barge arrangement as a glaring symbol of the UK’s flagrant disregard for human rights. Regardless of the backlash, there are indications that more locations for similar projects are being evaluated for the foreseeable future.