Asylum seekers who did not get on the Bibby Stockholm on Monday have until today to board the vessel or face having their government support cancelled, Sky News can reveal.
While 15 people last night boarded the barge in Portland, Dorset, around 20 people did not take up the offer made on what the government has called a “no-choice basis”.
Sky News has seen a letter sent by the Home Office to one of those people who stayed on dry land.
Image: A letter sent to an asylum seeker who refused to get on the Bibby Stockholm
It states: “Arrangements were made for you to travel from your accommodation… to alternative accommodation at the Bibby Stockholm in Portland on 7 August 2023.
“On 7 August you did not take up the offer of this accommodation.
“Please consider this letter a second notification to change your accommodation with arrangements in place to move you to the Bibby Stockholm, Portland on 8 August 2023.
“Accommodation is offered on a no-choice basis. Where asylum seekers fail to take up an offer of suitable accommodation without a reasonable explanation, there should be no expectation that alternative accommodation will be offered.
“If you do not travel tomorrow, on 8 August 2023, arrangements for ceasing the support that you are receiving from the Home Office may commence.”
Image: The first people boarded the Bibby Stockholm today
It is not clear whether this means the person in question would be left homeless.
Asked if the government was breaking its legal duty to asylum seekers, Justice Secretary Alex Chalk told Sky News: “Those who object to going on the barge can seek legal advice and try to resist it in the normal way and we will have those arguments played out in an independent court. That’s absolutely right.”
He described the barge as “basically safe and decent” and said the policy was about “fairness to the British taxpayer” to find a cheaper alternative to “four star hotels”.
The Bibby Stockholm will ultimately hold 500 asylum seekers who are expected to board the barge gradually.
On Monday, Cheryl Avery, the director of asylum accommodation at the Home Office, said the first cohort was made up of 15 people.
She added: “We have had a few challenges, but this is part of an ongoing structured process to bring a cohort of up to 500 people on board.
“There have been some challenges, some minor legal challenges, and I can’t go to the detail of those, but accommodation is offered to all individuals on a no-choice basis – so we are looking at how we manage that going forward.”
The Care4Calais group says about 20 asylum seekers did not board the barge because their transfers were “cancelled” due to legal challenges.
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Analysis: The impact of the barge
The charity claimed solicitors raised concerns about the suitability of the accommodation for people with disabilities, mental and physical health problems, as well as those who had fled torture and persecution.
Care4Calais chief executive Steve Smith said: “None of the asylum seekers we are supporting have gone to the Bibby Stockholm today as legal representatives have had their transfers cancelled.
“Amongst our clients are people who are disabled, who have survived torture and modern slavery and who have had traumatic experiences at sea. To house any human being in a ‘quasi floating prison’ like the Bibby Stockholm is inhumane. To try and do so with this group of people is unbelievably cruel. Even just receiving the notices is causing them a great deal of anxiety.”
Steve Valdez-Symonds, Amnesty International UK’s refugee and migrant rights director, said: “It seems there’s nothing this government won’t do to make people seeking asylum feel unwelcome and unsafe in this country.
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“Reminiscent of the prison hulks from the Victorian era, the Bibby Stockholm is an utterly shameful way to house people who’ve fled terror, conflict and persecution.”
Sky News has approached the Home Office for comment.
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Sir Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron have agreed the need for a “new deterrent” to deter small boats crossings in the Channel, Downing Street has said.
The prime minister met Mr Macron this afternoon as part of the French president’s state visit to the UK, which began on Tuesday.
High up the agenda for the two leaders is the need to tackle small boat crossings in the Channel, which Mr Macron said yesterday was a “burden” for both the UK and France.
The small boats crisis is a pressing issue for the prime minister, given that more than 20,000 migrants crossed the English Channel to the UK in the first six months of this year – a rise of almost 50% on the number crossing in 2024.
Sir Keir is hoping he can reach a deal for a one-in one-out return treaty with France, ahead of the UK-France summit on Thursday, which will involve ministerial teams from both nations.
The deal would see those crossing the Channel illegally sent back to France in exchange for Britain taking in any asylum seeker with a family connection in the UK.
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However, it is understood the deal is still in the balance, with some EU countries unhappy about France and the UK agreeing on a bilateral deal.
French newspaper Le Monde reports that up to 50 small boat migrants could be sent back to France each week, starting from August, as part of an agreement between Sir Keir and Mr Macron.
A statement from Downing Street said: “The prime minister met the French President Emmanuel Macron in Downing Street this afternoon.
“They reflected on the state visit of the president so far, agreeing that it had been an important representation of the deep ties between our two countries.
“Moving on to discuss joint working, they shared their desire to deepen our partnership further – from joint leadership in support of Ukraine to strengthening our defence collaboration and increasing bilateral trade and investment.”
It added: “The leaders agreed tackling the threat of irregular migration and small boat crossings is a shared priority that requires shared solutions.
“The prime minister spoke of his government’s toughening of the system in the past year to ensure rules are respected and enforced, including a massive surge in illegal working arrests to end the false promise of jobs that are used to sell spaces on boats.
“The two leaders agreed on the need to go further and make progress on new and innovative solutions, including a new deterrent to break the business model of these gangs.”
Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, seized on the statement to criticise Labour for scrapping the Conservatives’ Rwanda plan, which the Tories claim would have sent asylum seekers “entering the UK illegally” to Rwanda.
He said in an online post: “We had a deterrent ready to go, where every single illegal immigrant arriving over the Channel would be sent to Rwanda.
“But Starmer cancelled this before it had a chance to start.
“Now, a year later, he’s realised he made a massive mistake. That’s why numbers have surged and this year so far has been the worst in history for illegal channel crossings.
“Starmer is weak and incompetent and he’s lost control of our borders.”