PA
The Government will end the use of the Bibby Stockholm barge for housing migrants off England’s south coast as part of an overhaul of the asylum system, the Home Office has announced.
The contract for the barge moored in Dorset will not be renewed past January as demand for such accommodation will be reduced by moves to clear the asylum backlog, the department said.
The vessel was one of several sites, including the military bases 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 the new Labour Government 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.
Dame Angela Eagle, minister for border security and asylum, 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.”
The barge, which can house up to 500 people, has faced a series of setbacks since it was commissioned in April 2023.
The discovery of dangerous bacteria led to its evacuation last summer just days after the arrival of the first asylum seekers, and it remained vacant for two months.
An Albanian asylum seeker, who died while living on board the barge in December, is thought to have taken his own life.
Steve Smith, chief executive of refugee charity 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.
“Whilst this is a sensible decision, at this very minute, we are in the High Court challenging the Government over the inhumanity being inflicted on over 500 men inside the Wethersfield camp. The current Government is choosing to fight this case when the solution should have been to end the suffering and close this camp too.”
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