PORTLAND Hundreds of young men seeking asylum live in prison-like conditions on a barge anchored on the shore of the English Channel. With the help of miserable conditions, Britain wants to show those who come to the country that paperless entry is not worth it.
The barge is anchored off the small town of Portland on the south coast of England. Outsiders are not allowed to enter the barge – not even the city’s mayor or MPs – but asylum seekers can get out through a security check.
met two asylum seekers in Portland.
The young men agree to tell about their conditions only anonymously, because they fear for the safety of their family members. They are called in this story to Mohammed and to Ahmed. Their identities are known to .
Pakistanis Mohammed and Ahmed arrived in Britain by air on legal study visas. After arriving in the country in January of last year, they registered as asylum seekers on the grounds of persecution. They say they belong to a minority Muslim group that is persecuted in Pakistan, which professes Sunni Islam.
– My parents and grandfather had been in prison because of religion. I also received death threats, Ahmed says.
People want to come to Britain because of the networks
Ahmed had graduated from the agricultural college and got a post-graduate position at the university. His mother told him to leave the country.
– I chose Britain because there are members of our community and a mosque here, he says.
Multicultural Britain is of interest to asylum seekers in part precisely because many have acquaintances and networks in the country. The interviewees were lucky because they got a study visa and avoided the dangerous boat trip across the channel.
However, Ahmed did not study for a day. And he wouldn’t have been able to afford the cost of living in Britain. Parents are poor farmers.
After submitting their asylum applications, Ahmed and Mohammed were first placed in hotel accommodation for asylum seekers, then on a barge.
Things are miserable on the luxury ship
According to the men, everyday life on the ship is tough. The Bibby Stockholm barge is designed to accommodate people working at sea, for example on oil rigs, for a short time at a time.
Now the young men end up living on the barge for at least months. In Britain, it takes up to a year and a half to process asylum applications.
The first fifteen inhabitants were taken to the barge in August, but the dangerous legionella bacteria was found in the ship’s water, and the inhabitants were evacuated. Asylum seekers started to be transferred to the ship again in October. The barge now accommodates at least three hundred young men.
Bibby Marine Ltd, which rents the Bibby Stockholm barge, praises on its websitethat the barge offers luxurious conditions for more than five hundred residents.
According to the current residents, the reality is different. Leisure facilities such as the gym and game room are closed. The only TV in the TV space is not working.
Among other things, the mayor of Portland criticizes the cramped conditions on the ship. He saw the facilities before the asylum seekers moved there, but the authorities won’t let him see what kind of conditions people live on board now.
– Asylum seekers describe the conditions as prison-like. They said they were scared, says the mayor Carralyn Parkes.
The mayor got on the barge before the asylum seekers were transferred there. He measured the rooms with a tape measure. The size of one room was about 3 by 4 meters. Two people share one room.
– The goods don’t fit there. The space is substandardly small, Parkes estimates.
Mohammed says that the food is often unfit and there is little of it. Residents are treated like prisoners. When leaving the ship and returning there, they undergo the same security check as at the airport. Coats and goods are illuminated.
Asylum seekers are not allowed to walk off the ship independently, even if the barge is on the city shore. They are taken to a bus stop kilometers away.
The death on the ship raised an uproar
Asylum seekers are also not allowed to work, so they can only stay in the city. In some locals, it arouses suspicion. Others help and organize language lessons and walking tours.
In the video below, Portland residents share their thoughts on asylum seekers:
One asylum seeker committed suicide on a barge. The case caused a big media uproar, but the use of the barge did not end there.
– He often called for help. One night he screamed at two in the morning and cried for help. He said he felt bad. The officers told him to shut up and sleep. In the morning he was found dead, says Ahmed.
He says the people living on the barge feel anxious.
The Bibby Stockholm barge is a spectacular part of the immigration policy of Britain’s unpopular government.
The government claimed the barge as a cheaper way to house asylum seekers than hotels. Tens of thousands of asylum seekers have been accommodated in hotels across Britain, and hotel costs rise to nine million euros per day.
But the barge has also become expensive, as the Ministry of the Interior revealed in December that it had paid around 25 million euros for barge accommodation.
The number of people in temporary accommodation is increasing while the Conservative government is arguing about what should be done with asylum seekers. The Conservatives have made immigration a cornerstone of their policy.
The conservative government considers the solution to be flying asylum seekers to Rwanda. This would be done especially for asylum seekers arriving by boat across the English Channel. Last year, around 30,000 asylum seekers and migrants arrived in Britain by boat.
However, asylum seekers and migrants arriving by boat are only a fraction of the total immigration, which is at a record high in Britain. Last year, net immigration was 700,000 people.
The government plans to start flights to Rwanda this year
The government has already made an agreement with Rwanda that Rwanda would process asylum applications and give asylum to people taken there.
No one has been sent yet because the government lost the legal battle. The Supreme Court considered Rwanda an unsafe country. However, Rwanda has already been paid at least 240 million euros for the contract.
Now the prime minister Rishi Sunak pushes through the parliament a law that is supposed to declare Rwanda a safe country. The plan is against the European Convention on Human Rights.
Sunak plans to start flights this spring. However, Rwanda will not solve Britain’s asylum situation, because according to the plans, only a small number, perhaps hundreds of people a year, would be sent there.
Mohammed does not believe that being sent to Rwanda will stop asylum seekers from reaching Britain.
– If someone wants to save his life, he is going to reach his goal no matter what, he says.
Mohammed wishes that Britain would investigate the background of each arrival and give the opportunity to work and pay taxes while waiting. Now the young men sit idle.
Ahmed says that everyone should be able to enter the country legally and apply for asylum.
– Then why do they say at the UN that they protect human rights, he asks.
Carralyn Parkes sees the barge as part of the government’s efforts to increase and capitalize on anti-immigration.
– The government is trying to demonize the people it arrests and terrorize the people to see these vulnerable people as a threat. They’re no bigger threat than anyone else, Parkes snaps.
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