Minutes later, a message went out from the barge manager, calling for residents to gather in the kitchen. Adam, a 26-year old Yemeni asylum seeker, told The Independent of the joy among residents. “I can’t tell you how happy they were,” he said. “They were very happy. Everyone was saying we are not happy just for us but for those who might be moved to the Bibby Stockholm in the future. If you have been through something bad you don’t want it even for your worst enemy.”
Following Labour’s election win, the Home Office announced last week that the controversial barge at Portland port in Dorset will be closed in January 2025. Home office minister Dame Angela Eagle has made the decision not to renew the contract.
The barge, which was expected to house up to 430 people, cost £15.8m to run over the past year and will cost another £19m this financial year.
Around 100 people present on the barge yesterday gathered in the canteen to hear the news from the barge manager directly, Adam said. They were told people who had been living on the Bibby Stockholm for less than six months would have their asylum interviews on the barge, Adam said.
Those who had been there longer would be transferred into temporary accommodation, such as hotels, and have their asylum interviews there.
The interviews are done by Home Office case workers to assess whether someone has a valid claim for refuge in the UK.
This story is from the July 31, 2024 edition of The Independent.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the July 31, 2024 edition of The Independent.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Carse justifies England faith as the archetypal bold pick
If you won a boxing match after your opponent continually punched themselves in the face, how much credit can you take?
Tenacious Diallo the key to Amorim pressing machine
Old Trafford has not seen anything like this before.
Gold King Cole packs the Bridge with merry old souls
In the 83rd minute, the ball rolled to the feet of Cole Palmer in a bubble of space outside Aston Villa's box, and the crowd snapped to attention.
Vibrant Anfield marks the changing of the Guardiola
There was a lull in the noise, a break in the Anfield atmosphere, when a defiant chant emerged from a corner near Stefan Ortega’s goal.
What is so daunting about Spain's new data checks?
Q You have written about the new “red tape” for visitors to Spain. So, as well as your usual passport details you will give a contact number, address and email. Not exactly the Spanish Inquisition, is it?
Sectarian clashes claim at least 130 lives in Pakistan
At least 130 people were killed in deadly sectarian clashes in Pakistan's northwestern Kurram district in spite of a tentative ceasefire, days after gunmen opened fire on a convoy of vehicles carrying Shia Muslims, local officials said.
Coalition government likely in Ireland as count proceeds
Fianna Fail say decisions on power-sharing for another day’
How Syria's forgotten war is back on the world's agenda
Many believed the country was lost in an unsolvable conflict, until everything changed in a matter of days, writes Bel Trew
Assad regime scrambles to halt Syrian rebels’ advance
Civilians reportedly killed by Russian and Syrian airstrikes
Mother of poisoning victim says she knew she would die
Lawyer Simone White succumbed to the effects of methanol while backpacking in Laos with two of her childhood friends
