The British Government on Monday transferred a first group of asylum seekers to the Bibby Stockholm dormitory barge, which moored last month at the isolated Portland pier, in the English county of Dorset, amid shouts of protest from activists and residents of area. Aspects of the protocol against fires and other safety issues on board delayed for several weeks the inauguration of the controversial strategy of shock against immigration in small boats through the English Channel, which Prime Minister Rishi Sunak champions among his priority electoral promises .
The first occupants of the Bibby Stockholm embarked after noon in the so-called “dormitory prison”, where they will reside while their asylum requests are processed in the United Kingdom. The floating platform, which Interior has chartered for a minimum period of 18 months, is 93 meters long and three stories high structured around a central patio. The original 221 individual cabins have been modified to accommodate more than 500 foreigners who have entered the country through routes considered illegal. “It is cruel and inhumane to retain, especially on a floating ship, people who have suffered traumatizing experiences,” denounced a group of fifty NGOs in a letter addressed to the owner of the vessel, the Liverpool-based company Bibby Marine.
A Sunak spokesman dismissed the forecasts of Secretary of State Sarah Dines, who told the BBC in the morning that the operation would conclude before the weekend. The refugees are currently scattered throughout different districts of England, although it is estimated that most of those destined for Bibby Stockholm are temporarily housed in hotels in Weymouth and other towns in the tourist and attractive county of Dorset. Weymouth beach, which is about six miles from the pier, fills with families on sunny days while American troops trained on the nearby Cecil Beach before embarking in Portland to participate in the historic ‘Normandy Landing’, in June 1944. .
Downing Street clarified, however, that no schedule has been established to complete the transfer of the half a thousand refugees, men between the ages of 18 and 65. The conservative executive tries to repeat the experience in other ports in the country, but has encountered opposition from politicians and local populations to the arrival of waves of migrant men. Asylum seekers are legally unable to work while their papers are processed and receive a weekly allowance of about 50 euros per week, including the cost of maintenance.
The ‘pay’ is reduced to less than 11 euros a week when food is provided by the State. This is the case for the new tenants of the Bibby Stockholm, where food will be served three times a day and there will be an almost continuous supply of water, tea and soup. In addition, they will receive medical attention and Internet access and English lessons, according to government sources. Security guards will control the departure and return to the boat and the movements of the port will be carried out with a special bus service, until 11 at night.
Sunak and his Interior Minister, Suella Braverman, are working on a plan B that they would trigger if the Supreme Court blocks the process of deporting immigrants to Rwanda who arrived by boat or other clandestine routes. The controversial strategy initially stumbled upon the European Court of Human Rights and was found illegal by three Appeal magistrates from England and Wales in a majority ruling this spring.
Downing Street expresses confidence in the final victory in the Supreme Court but this Monday confirmed that talks are being held with other governments about the possibility of transferring to them the responsibility of receiving and processing the cases of immigrants seeking asylum in the United Kingdom. The newspaper ‘The Times’ mentions Ghana, Nigeria, Namibia, Morocco and even Niger, which is facing a military coup, among the potential partners of the conservative administration. The press has also raised the option of expelling undocumented immigrants to the volcanic island of La Asunción, with its desolate location in the middle of the Atlantic, and other overseas territories.
The prime minister directs, from his summer refuge in California, the road map towards his goal of “killing the boats”. In the last few hours, Sunak endorsed an agreement with social network operators, which will “voluntarily” remove advertisements for the clandestine transportation of individuals, and an increase in the penalties imposed on employers and businessmen for renting a home or employing migrants without work visas.
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