Comment on Cabins aren't much bigger than prison cells on this barge being rented by the British government to house asylum seekers

nrennolds@insider.com (Nathan Rennolds), Business Insider
Sun, 07/23/2023 - 8:11am

Cabins aren't much bigger than prison cells on this barge being rented by the British government to house asylum seekers

The Bibby Stockholm.Andrew Matthews/Getty Images The UK is set to start housing hundreds of asylum seekers in a barge moored on Dorset coast. The barge looks eerily like a floating prison, with bleak, narrow corridors and cramped rooms. Immigration minister Robert Jenrick said it offered "basic and appropriate standards." This is the Bibby Stockholm, a bleak floating accommodation block that the British government is renting to house hundreds of asylum seekers.The 222-cabin barge is moored on the southern coast of England and will soon hold an estimated 500 men while their applications to remain in the UK are processed.A courtyard area on the barge.Andrew Matthews/Getty ImagesThe barge has been the source of much controversy, with critics labeling it an inhumane way to treat vulnerable people.Local residents have also claimed it will hurt tourism and strain health services in the area, ITV News reported.The government says it's using the barge to reduce the number of asylum seekers put up in hotels.The government had been "clear that those who arrive in the UK illegally should not be housed in expensive hotels," immigration minister Robert Jenrick said, according to a BBC News report.Such vessels "provide basic and appropriate standards for small boats arrivals while their claims are determined," he added.About 45,000 people were detected arriving by small boats in the UK in the 12 months to March, per official figures.

 

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