More than 60 charities have demanded the immediate closure of the Bibby Stockholm barge used to accommodate asylum seekers after a man died following a suspected suicide there on Tuesday.
The call comes in a letter published in the Guardian signed by 65 charities and three Labour MPs. The charities include Refugee Action, Refugee Council, Care4Calais and Refugees at Home. The MPs are Nadia Whittome, Kim Johnson and Olivia Blake.
The signatories write: “For those on board, the Bibby Stockholm feels like a prison. It is cramped, restrictive and segregated. The barge is no place to accommodate people who have fled violence, persecution, and torture, many of whom are traumatised and isolated. They are unable to get the help and specialist support they need. Their mental health has deteriorated and some have felt suicidal.”
They add that people onboard are paying an “appalling price” and condemn the £22.5m that government officials this week admitted it was costing to operate the barge.
“These funds should be spent on providing people seeking asylum safe housing in the community,” they say.
Along with the demand for the immediate closure of the barge, the signatories are calling for an independent inquiry into the death so that lessons are learned and those responsible are held accountable.
“This country must never again house those who come to our shores seeking safety in such an inappropriate and inhumane place,” they conclude.
After the apparent suicide of the unidentified resident on Tuesday, asylum seekers said conditions had deteriorated since up to 300 people were moved on to the barge.
Their concerns include rules that require them to go through airport-style security and body searches even if they only wanted to step outside for a cigarette, a deterioration in the quality of food, and shortages for those at the end of the queue.
“The boat is like a prison and more and more things are going wrong,” said one asylum seeker.
The government insists that the barge represents better value for money than the £8m a day being spent on hotels to accommodate asylum seekers and say they are planning to close 50 of the hotels by early next year.
In a letter to parliament’s home affairs committee this week, Sir Matthew Rycroft, permanent secretary at the Home Office, said he was not yet able to provide the latest cost per person per night figure for the barge. He said: “The value for money assessment is currently being updated to give the latest per person per night cost and we will provide details in the new year once this is complete.”
The latest briefing about the controversial barge from a multi-agency forum that includes the Home Office, Dorset council, police and barge operators, dated 28 November, presents an upbeat view of life on the barge for asylum seekers, which is at odds with the version of events provided to the Guardian by those onboard.
“The conditions are getting worse and worse,” said one of the asylum seekers. “We are terrified they will unlock the boat and sail it away to Rwanda.”
