UK migrant barge sparks debate on asylum seeker treatment

euronews (in English)

A small seaside town on the south coast of England, home to a giant migrant barge, has once again found itself at the heart of a British debate regarding the treatment of asylum seekers.

Transcript

00:00 In one of the UK's poorest coastal communities, the spotlight once again rests on the Bibby

00:05 Stockholm Barge, a 222-room, three-storey boat chartered by the UK government for 18

00:12 months, which docked in July, and is now deemed safe again. The UK Home Office has begun moving

00:18 migrants back on board after they were removed following the discovery in August of Legionella

00:24 bacteria. Here, on the Isle of Portland, it's a controversial issue. It doesn't make any

00:30 sense to me. I don't think it makes sense to most people to really have any kind heart

00:34 for other human beings, really. I think most people are afraid of the sort of demographic

00:39 that it is, which is men, single men, and that's really it. They should process asylum

00:43 seekers properly, and if their claim is valid, then they should be integrated into our community.

00:51 I don't agree with keeping them as prisoners. As the debate surrounding the backlog of asylum

00:57 seekers in the UK continues, the Bibby Stockholm, which will eventually be home to a total of

01:02 500 men, is seen as part of a potential solution by the government. But the backlog of asylum

01:09 seekers is big. 175,000 people are waiting to be processed. A barge in a port on private

01:17 property behind these barriers intended to show there was no luxury in the UK's asylum

01:22 process. But as well as Legionella bacteria, a type of pneumonia, being found on board,

01:28 concerns were also raised about fire safety and about far-right activity in the area.

01:34 But the UK government says the barge is now safe again and will reduce the cost of keeping

01:40 asylum seekers in hotels. I think it's an interesting strategy, but I'm not sure how

01:44 comfortable the local people are, having the barge sat there with that big group of people.

01:51 There's lots of people coming over, being assessed as to whether they're economic migrants

01:58 or refugees. I guess there's a backlog. People need to go somewhere. I'm not sure if this

02:03 is the right place where they need to go, but they need to go somewhere. A second judicial

02:07 review claim has been issued in the UK's High Court to challenge the government's decision.

02:13 The UK Home Office says it's confident the barge will house asylum seekers safely and

02:19 securely.

02:20 (wind blowing)

02:22 [SWOOSH]

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