Hundreds of Bibby Stockholm asylum seekers moved to hotels after Labour pledge to close barge accommodation

30 October 2024, 00:49

Hundreds of asylum seekers have been removed from the Bibby Stockholm barge and will enter hotels and council accommodation.

The barge has been moored off the Dorset coast ahead of decisions about the migrants' futures in the UK, with Labour planning to ditch the former Conservative government's policy.

Some 400 migrants have been moved and are being transferred from the Bibby Stockholm and into hotels and council accommodation. Once in temporary accommodation they will be told if they can remain in the UK.

The Government is clearing migrants from the vessel before the contract for its use expires in January.

Labour has said it would not renew use of the Bibby – which is moored off Portland – beyond that date as the Home Office expects demand for such accommodation to be reduced by moves to clear the asylum backlog.

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The vessel was one of several sites, including RAF Wethersfield in Essex and RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire, used by the previous Tory government in a bid to cut the cost of housing migrants in hotels.

But Labour has said continuing the use of the Bibby Stockholm would have cost more than £20 million next year, and that scrapping it forms part of the expected £7.7 billion of savings in asylum costs over the next 10 years.

The asylum seekers accommodated on the barge, who are all men, are being dispersed to accommodation in places including Cardiff, Wolverhampton and Bristol, according to the BBC.

None of them will be moved to the Dorset Council catchment, which includes the area around Portland and Weymouth.

A Home Office spokesperson said: “This Government inherited an asylum system under unprecedented strain, with thousands stuck in a backlog without their claims processed.

“We have taken immediate action to restart asylum processing which will save an estimated £7 billion for the taxpayer over the next 10 years, and are delivering a major uplift in returns to remove people with no right to be in the UK.

"Over the long term this will reduce our reliance on hotels and costs of accommodation.“We remain absolutely committed to ending the use of hotels for asylum seekers.”

Labour to end use of Bibby Stockholm asylum accommodation barge

Last month Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, being interviewed on Nick Ferrari at Breakfast, told LBC: "The barges are incredibly expensive - we need to end these extortionate barges, bases and hotels as fast as possible."

The Minister for Border Security and Asylum, Dame Angela Eagle MP said: "We are determined to restore order to the asylum system, so that it operates swiftly, firmly and fairly; and ensures the rules are properly enforced.

"The Home Secretary has set out plans to start clearing the asylum backlog and making savings on accommodation which is running up vast bills for the taxpayer.

"The Bibby Stockholm will continue to be in use until the contract expires in January 2025."

Should the Bibby Stockholm be repurposed into a prison?

Refugee charities welcomed the decision to close the Bibby Stockholm.

Steve Smith, CEO of Care4Calais said: “The Bibby Stockholm became the physical symbol for the last Government’s inhumane treatment of people seeking sanctuary in the UK.

"The despair and suffering the barge has caused will live long in the people who were residents of it. Nor will not renewing the contract bring back Leonard Farruku, whose family have lost their loved one forever."

But he added that the government should also close the migrant camp at Wethersfield in Essex, where over 500 men are being held.