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UK secures two more barges to house asylum seekers Thousands of asylum seekers could be housed in vessels under UK plans
(about 3 hours later)
Rishi Sunak confirms ships to house 1,000 refugees on visit to Dover, where he claims ‘stop the boats’ plan is working Rishi Sunak confirms two more barges will house 1,000 people, as sources say discussions about more vessels are taking place
The government has acquired two more giant barges to house 1,000 asylum seekers, Rishi Sunak has confirmed, as he claimed his plan to “stop the boats” was working. Thousands of asylum seekers could be housed in vessels moored near Newcastle, Harwich, Felixstowe and the Royal London docks, the Guardian has learned.
The prime minister said he would wait to announce where the new barges would be located as there would be “extensive engagement” with local communities. Rishi Sunak confirmed on Monday that the government had acquired two more giant barges to house about 1,000 people seeking refuge in the UK.
Attempting to gain a positive step forward on his mission to prevent refugees from crossing the Channel, Sunak claimed small boat crossings were down 20% – adding “our plan is starting to work”. It is understood that these are expected to be moored in Teesport, near Middlesbrough, and in docks near Liverpool.
Speaking from Dover on Monday, after spending time in a flimsy boat to get a taste of the perilous journey, Sunak said: “Before I launched my plan in December, the number entering the UK illegally in small boats had more than quadrupled in two years. Some said this problem was insoluble, or just a fact of 21st-century life. But sources have said that discussions over the acquisition of further barges and disused cruise ships are already taking place.
“They’d lost faith in politicians to put in the hard yards to do something about it. And of course, we still have a long way to go. But in the five months since I launched the plan, crossings are now down 20% compared to last year. The development comes as ministers prepare for a new wave of people seeking asylum in small boats this summer, amid objections from local residents and legal action over plans to house people in disused military bases.
“This is the first time since this problem began that arrivals between January and May have fallen compared to the year before.” Conservative MPs and refugee charities have questioned whether the vessels will provide humane living conditions for people escaping war, famine and torture. Opposition MPs have said that the plans are a calculated diversion from the government’s failure to reduce the backlog of asylum claims.
Border Force officials in Dover cited bad weather as one reason for the relatively small number of Channel crossings, but said extra funding enabled French officials to encourage some refugees to turn back when setting off on a poor quality boat. Speaking at Dover, the prime minister said he would wait to announce where the new barges would be located as there would be “extensive engagement” with local communities.
When asked whether he had timed his press conference because of the exceptionally windy conditions in the Channel, resulting in fewer small boat crossings, Sunak said: “Of course the summer is coming. Of course gangs will keep trying different routes and different methodologies. He said another ship planned for 500 asylum seekers, which the government acquired in May, would arrive in Portland off the coast of Dorset within the next two weeks.
“We need to be alert to that. It’s why we need to pass the [illegal migration bill]. It’s so important that the law passes because that will really help us resolve this problem. And in terms of the timing of my visit. There’s many things I can control, the weather is not one of them. I wish it was so.” This was met with a furious reaction from the Conservative MP Richard Drax, who claimed it would be “nothing more than a quasi-prison”.
In his speech, the prime minister made a point of insisting asylum seekers should be “willing” to share a taxpayer-funded hotel after reports that a large group were left in the streets of Westminster for two nights in a row. Westminster city council’s leader wrote to the home secretary, Suella Braverman, to express “deep concern” that about 40 refugees had been placed in the borough on Wednesday night. He told LBC: “They’ve got £9 a week to spend, which isn’t much money – what happens if they disappear? None of these questions have been answered.”
“If you’re coming here illegally, claiming sanctuary from death, torture or persecution, then you should be willing to share a taxpayer-funded hotel room in central London,” Sunak said. Attempting to gain a positive step forward on his mission to prevent refugees from crossing the English Channel, Sunak claimed small boats crossings were down 20%, adding that “our plan is starting to work” but there was a long way to go.
“To reduce pressures on local communities, we’ll also house people on ships, the first will arrive in Portland in the next fortnight and we’ve secured another two today that will accommodate another thousand.” Border Force officials in Dover cited bad weather as one reason for the relatively small number of recent Channel crossings, but said extra funding had enabled French officials to encourage some refugees to turn back when setting off on a poor-quality boat.
The Home Office has since said the government is seeking to ensure asylum seekers are not given single hotel rooms, which they believe will save approximately £250m a year. When asked whether he had timed his press conference because of the exceptionally windy conditions in the Channel, resulting in fewer crossings, Sunak said: “Of course the summer is coming. Of course gangs will keep trying different routes and different methodologies.
Enver Solomon, the head of the Refugee Council, said: “While the government has been rigorously sticking to the line that its new bill would ‘act as a deterrent’, this information shows that the it is well aware that vulnerable people will keep arriving in the UK in search of protection. “We need to be alert to that. It’s why we need to pass the [illegal migration bill]. It’s so important that the law passes because that will really help us resolve this problem. And in terms of the timing of my visit: there’s many things I can control, the weather is not one of them. I wish it was so.”
“It is appalling that it is preparing to lock up and kick out thousands of men, women and children, most of whom would be found to be refugees if their claim was heard on UK soil. In his speech, the prime minister made a point of insisting asylum seekers should be “willing” to share a taxpayer-funded hotel after reports that a large group were left in the streets of Westminster for two nights in a row.
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“It is unclear where the government proposes to detain this large number of people given the limited size of the UK’s immigration detention estate, or where it intends to remove them to, given the lack of workable agreements with other countries. “If you’re coming here illegally, claiming sanctuary from death, torture or persecution, then you should be willing to share a taxpayer-funded hotel room in central London,” Sunak said.
“Most people in the UK want us to provide safety and security to those fleeing unimaginable horrors, but the government is instead planning a hugely expensive and unworkable crackdown on desperate people. The Home Office has since said the government is seeking to ensure asylum seekers are not given single hotel rooms, which they believe will save approximately £250m a year.
“Instead of these chaotic and costly plans, we should be focusing on creating a fair and orderly system that protects the right to claim asylum on UK soil.” Later in the Commons, Labour accused Suella Braverman of getting her figures wrong after the home secretary claimed the backlog of people awaiting an initial decision on their asylum claim had reduced.
Keir Starmer said Sunak’s promises to tackle small-boat crossings were “like groundhog day”. The shadow home secretary, Yvette Cooper, asked Braverman to withdraw the claim but she declined.
Speaking from Somerset, the Labour leader said: “I think everybody wants to make sure that we stop the boats, we don’t want people making that dangerous journey. Braverman said: “The asylum initial decision backlog is down by 17,000, and we are on track to abolish all legacy cases by the end of this year.”
“All we’ve really had from the government though is the announcement of a policy that doesn’t work and then the re-announcement of the same policy, essentially. Making a point of order, Cooper said: “Home Office official statistics say the asylum initial backlog is now over 170,000, up from 160,000 in December.
“It often feels, I think, like groundhog day and meanwhile that’s costing a fortune for the taxpayer and there’s this growing sense of frustration.” “I know there was a lot of nonsense in what the home secretary said, sometimes it’s hard to know where to start, but this is about facts, the facts given to parliament.”
As many as 3,000 asylum seekers could be housed at RAF Wethersfield and Scampton by autumn, with the first expected to move in over the summer. The government’s latest data, released on Monday, shows that last month 2,440 legacy backlog decisions were made, nearly 1,000 fewer than the previous month.
According to the Refugee Council, for Rishi Sunak to fulfil a promise of clearing the legacy backlog by the end of 2023, there will have to be more than 10,500 decisions made each month for the rest of 2023.