In a recent ruling, the UK High Court supported the Home Office’s decision to return asylum seekers to the Bibby Stockholm barge. The Home Office had initially evacuated this barge in August due to a legionella bacteria contamination in its water supply the UK Home Office announced.
Local councillor and Portland mayor Carralyn Parkes sought to launch a judicial review of this decision, but this was rejected by the High Court. She raised £25,000 to fund this case, with contributions from over 900 donors. Her fundraising site details her challenge against the government’s plan read here.
Well both Parkes and her lawyer, Alex Goodman raised concerns about the potential breach of planning control, and linked segregating non-British people with racial segregation. Government lawyers, however, asserted that the local planning authority didn’t think planning permission was necessary, that the case was without merit, and that there was no “general principle” saying that housing non-British asylum seekers on a vessel was illegal under public sector equality duty.
The previous occupants, who were 39 in number have been informed about their re-allocation to the Bibby Stockholm. The Home Office specified that the asylum seekers aren’t being held under immigration powers and that this isn’t detention accommodation. Although the occupants must sign in and out the site when they leave and return for their safety.
However, the former residents criticized these harsh, “prison-like” living conditions and expressed their reluctance to return to the barge. Two former residents of the barge co-authored an article in The Guardian, detailing their grievances and discomfort read here.
While the Home Office maintains that the use of the Bibby Stockholm will lessen the reliance on expensive hotels, and make the asylum accommodation system more orderly, cost-effective and sustainable, asylum seekers previously housed on the barge dismissed these claims as a mere political act. They argue that the real cost of the asylum system isn’t minimized by the use of the barge but rather inflated.A briefing co-published by non-profits One Life to Live and Reclaim the Sea supports this viewpoint.
In October, more asylum seekers are set to move onto the barge, which has been designed to house up to 500 adult men while their asylum claims are processed.