UK: Migrant dies on housing barge holding asylum seekers

The death of an asylum-seeker on a housing barge near the southern coast of England has kicked off a police investigation, said multiple media reports on Tuesday (Dec 12) citing British officials. The death on the housing barge, called Bibby Stockholm, has been confirmed by the Home Office.

The Associated Press quoted a Dorset Police spokesperson who said that police officials got “a report of a sudden death of a resident on the Bibby Stockholm” on Tuesday.

“Officers are conducting inquiries into the circumstances of the incident,” said the spokesperson.

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Bibby Stockholm, the barge, is currently housing migrants who are awaiting result of their applications for asylum in the UK. The barge has the capacity to hold 500 people and is currently moored in Portland harbour, Dorset.

The controversy surrounding the barge

The Bibby Stockholm has been a matter of controversy. The housing barge and disused military barracks are being used by the British government to avoid the costs to house incoming illegal migrants in hotels across the country. The migrants often cross the English Channel in boats that more often than not are unseaworthy.

UK PM Rishi Sunak has vowed to 'Stop the boats' in his campaign bearing the same name.

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The Bibby Stockholm had to evacuated earlier this year due to discovery of a dangerous bacteria in its water supply.

Holding migrants in housing barges like Bibby Stockholm has attracted criticism from rights group but British officials continue to support the decision saying it brings “better value to taxpayers” than when the migrants are lodged in hotels which costs millions daily.

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Rights groups have been highlighting poor conditions on the barge saying that housing the migrants there was like keeping them in a prison. This, they say, is unfair to those migrants who may have fled extremely adverse situations like persecution and torture in their home countries.

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AP quoted The Refugee Council, a UK-based charity that works with refugees.

“This is an appalling loss of life but tragically not surprising,” said Enver Solomon, who is the group's chief executive

“Nobody who comes to our country seeking asylum should be left without the support they need yet the system has more hostility than compassion built into it.”

(With inputs from agencies)