Asylum barge residents report poor mental health and 'airport' security

A REPORT looking into the Bibby Stockholm barge that houses asylum seekers has found widespread mental health problems and "airport security" on board the vessel.

Multiple former residents told an inquiry conditions on the barge were like being "in prison", while one said it made them feel like a "zoo animal".

An employee also said they stopped receiving shifts on the barge because they were being friendly to residents.

The Bibby Stockholm, moored at the port of Portland, in Dorset, is the only accommodation barge for migrants commissioned so far by Government ministers, and has faced a series of setbacks since its arrival.

Leonard Farruku, an Albanian asylum seeker, died while living on board the barge last December, and is thought to have taken his own life.

The discovery of dangerous bacteria led to its evacuation last summer, just days after the arrival of the first asylum seekers.