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The Home Office has said finding new barges to house asylum seekers was now “not a priority.”
The Bibby Stockholm barge was supposed to be the first of several ships that would be used as a cheaper alternative to hotel according to ministers.
However, following failed attempts to find willing ports, the Home Office has “all but given up” trying to find additions to its fleet.
Insiders told The Sun that any attempted work to find more vessels had been quietly shelved.
The Bibby Stockholm barge was supposed to be the first of several ships that would be used as a cheaper alternative to hotel
PA
A source told The Sun: “It’s not a priority anymore. That’s not to say a port suddenly couldn’t turn around tomorrow and stick their hand up, but it’s not really front and centre.”
It comes as migrants on board the Bibby Stockholm said they were treated “inhumanely” by staff and complained of poor conditions on board.
A 27-year-old Albanian, Leonard Farruku, died on board the barge in December.
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The barge has proved controversial
PA
Shadow Immigration Minister Stephen Kinnock said: “Bibby Stockholm has been a disaster from the get go and is now a stark symbol of the Conservatives’ broken asylum system.
“It shouldn’t be necessary for the government to use hotels, barges or bases, yet there are still 56,000 people staying in hotels at a cost of £8million day, despite Rishi Sunak’s promises to end hotel use by the end of last year.”
According to latest figures, taxpayers are stumping up £8million every day to put up asylum seekers in hotels.
Migrant hotels are now being wound down, with the Government now closing 50 and another 50 set to be shut by the spring.
A Home Office spokesperson said: “We continue to look at a range of alternative accommodation sites to house asylum seekers, including vessels which have been used safely and successfully by Scottish and Dutch Governments, and former military sites.”
The Bibby Stockholm is currently berthed at the port of Portland in Dorset and holds around 500 men while they await the outcome of their asylum applications.
Women and children are not in the barge, but there have been calls for it to be closed from campaign groups following the death of Farruku.
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