‘The current living conditions on the barge continue to pose significant humanitarian and health concerns. Delaying the relocation only prolongs the (mental, physical, and even fatal) distress and suffering of those housed there.’
Refugee campaign groups have welcomed the government’s closure of the controversial Bibby Stockholm Barge. Right to Remain hailed the decision not to renew the contract, which will expire in January 2025, as a “victory.”
The barge, moored in Dorset, has been used to house asylum seekers since August 2023. It was part of the former home secretary Suella Braverman’s plan to reduce the cost of asylum accommodation. The move attracted widespread criticism, with organisations and campaigners, including Refugee Action, Asylum Matters, and the Refugee Council, calling it “cruel and inhumane.” In December 2023, a person aboard Bibby Stockholm took their own life.
The decision to close the barge represents a “partial victory and a step in the right direction,” says Right to Remain, adding: “It reflects the sustained pressure and advocacy from campaigners who have consistently highlighted the inhumane conditions on the barge.”
But the migrant justice charity is urging Labour to go further, describing that waiting until January 2025 to relocate the asylum seekers as “unacceptable.”
“The current living conditions on the barge continue to pose significant humanitarian and health concerns. Delaying the relocation only prolongs the (mental, physical, and even fatal) distress and suffering of those housed there,” they say.
The charity wants the government to take immediate action and transfer all individuals currently on the barge to appropriate accommodation without delay.
“This is not only a matter of urgency but a fundamental issue of human rights and dignity,” says the group.
The campaigners are also urging the government to shut down other “inhumane forms of asylum accommodation,” including the army barracks at Wethersfield. Like Bibby Stockholm, the use of RAF Wethersfield as asylum accommodation has been highly controversial. Four asylum seekers launched a legal challenge against the former secretary of state for the Home Department’s use of the site.
Solicitor Emily Soothill from Deighton Pierce Glynn advocates for an end to using RAF Wethersfield, citing the site’s inadequacy and the suffering it causes to vulnerable asylum seekers. “Our clients, like many others, have already endured immense hardship and trauma, and placing them in such unsuitable and undignified conditions, without any adequate assessment of their needs, has significantly exacerbated their suffering.
“It is imperative that asylum seekers are housed in environments that offer safety, privacy and access to essential services, not in isolated and substandard disused military sites. The use of RAF Wethersfield is not only inhumane but also impractical and costly, and we urge the new home secretary to end its use once and for all,” said Soothill.
The Labour government aims to save £7.7bn over the next decade by clearing the asylum backlog and reducing housing costs. This initiative follows the party’s early decision to scrap the controversial Rwanda scheme shortly after coming into power.
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