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Several human rights organisations have previously reported suicidal thoughts among residents, but claim that these warnings have been ignored by the authorities.
ADVERTISEMENTAn asylum seeker has died on the Bibby Stockholm, the giant boat chartered by Rishi Sunak’s government, and a police investigation has been launched into the incident, British officials said on Tuesday.
The Home Office said police had confirmed the death, but authorities said they could not comment further because of the ongoing police investigation.
Bibby Stockholm has been at the centre of controversy since the authorities first used the ship, along with disused military barracks, to house migrants awaiting the outcome of their asylum claims.
The boat is a barge holding over 300 migrants off the south coast of England, described by NGOs as a ‘floating prison’.
Several human rights organisations have previously reported suicidal tendencies among residents, but claim that these warnings have been ignored by the authorities.
In fact, according to British media reports, this death may have been a suicide. The deceased’s age and nationality are currently unknown.
A “floating prison” in the eye of the storm
Earlier this year, the ship had to be evacuated after legionella bacteria, which can cause serious illness, was found in its water supply. Around 40 men returned to the ship in October, which is moored at Portland Harbour in Dorset.
The barge, which can hold around 500 people, is part of the British government’s plans to tackle the huge cost of housing thousands of asylum seekers and deter migrants from crossing the Channel in unseaworthy small boats to seek a new life in the UK.
Officials have said alternative accommodation, such as the Bibby Stockholm, offers “better value for taxpayers” than housing them in hotels across the country at a cost of millions a day.
But migrants’ rights groups have criticised conditions on the barge, saying they are prison-like, isolating and punitive for migrants who may have fled torture or persecution.
Former Home Secretary Suella Braverman previously insisted the barge was safe, amid repeated protests and threats of legal action from the firefighters’ union over fire safety concerns.
The Refugee Council on Tuesday called for an independent inquiry into the asylum seeker’s death.
“This is an appalling loss of life, but tragically not surprising,” said Enver Solomon, the group’s chief executive. “No one who comes to our country seeking asylum should be left without the support they need, yet the system is built with more hostility than compassion.”
Prime Minister Theresa May has pledged to “stop the boats” bringing unauthorised migrants from northern France, and has introduced far tougher laws to curb migrants’ ability to seek asylum in Britain.
But his government has struggled to unite lawmakers behind its flagship immigration bill, which seeks to revive a plan to send asylum-seekers to Rwanda that was ruled illegal by the UK Supreme Court.
Last April, the UK government announced it would use the barge to house asylum seekers while the country tries to work out what to do with the 166,000 asylum cases that remain unresolved.
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