The first asylum seekers could be housed on the Bibby Stockholm barge as soon as Monday as ministers push on with the repeatedly delayed plans despite safety concerns.
Around 50 people are expected to be in the first group of migrants to board the vessel docked in Portland Port, Dorset, despite local opposition.
It comes as Rishi Sunak’s government is considering a revived plan to fly failed asylum seekers 4,000 miles to Ascension Island, according to multiple reports.
Home Office minister Sarah Dines said only that the first migrants will be housed on the Bibby Stockholm “imminently” – but revealed that the government hopes to get 500 men on the barge by the end of this week.
Pressed on whether all of them could be on board by Friday, Ms Dines said: “Yes, quite possibly it will be 500. We are hoping,” she told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
The Home Office minister said that those living on the Bibby Stockholm and are going to have “some free movement” and “they are going to be able to go into Portland” – but would not confirm any arrangements.
Ms Dines said: “They’re going to be able to stretch their legs, get some air, get out and about, but within proper parameters.”
She said those arriving in the country via unauthorised means should have “basic but proper accommodation” and that they “can’t expect to stay in a four-star hotel”.
Up to 500 men are expected to be housed on the Bibby Stockholm asylum barge
The Home Office did nothing to dampen suggestions the arrivals could come on Monday. Various expected dates have been given and then missed in the past, however.
Immigration minister Robert Jenrick offered a guarantee that it is a “safe facility” after the firefighters’ union warned it is a “potential deathtrap”, citing concerns including overcrowding and access to fire exits.
Mr Jenrick told Sky News on Sunday that increasing the numbers on the barge to the capacity of around 500 is still the plan despite concerns from the Fire Brigades Union over the vessel initially designed to house about 200.
Labour’s international trade secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds was non-committal when repeatedly asked whether the party supports the use of the Bibby Stockholm barge.
It follows shadow immigration minister Stephen Kinnock saying Labour would be “forced” to keep people on the ships for a limited period of time, perhaps six months.
Asked if Labour supports the use of barges, Mr Thomas-Symonds told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “We do not wish to run and will not run an asylum system that requires the use of bases, barges or indeed of hotels – those are being used as additional accommodation because of the failure of the Conservatives to run our asylum system properly over many years.”
Rishi Sunak has promised to ‘stop the boats’
Dame Jenny Harries, the chief executive of the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), she staff expect to visit the barge to check “infection prevention control” once the first migrants have been moved in.
“Generally respiratory infections, as we’ve all learnt through the pandemic, are at higher risk in confined settings with poorer ventilation, so the sorts of things we look at is what the ventilation is like,” she told Today.
The developments came during the government’s “small boats week” in which it is making a series of announcements on the issue that Rishi Sunak has promised to solve.
Proposals to use the British Overseas Territory of Ascension Island are apparently being considered again by ministers and officials as a “plan B” if the Rwanda scheme fails.
Situated in the South Atlantic, with a population of less than 900, the volcanic island could house an asylum processing centre as an attempt to reduce the number of small boats crossing the Channel.
The plans to remove asylum seekers who arrive by unauthorised means to Rwanda have been stalled by legal challenges that will end up in the Supreme Court.
Meanwhile, fines for employers and landlords who allow people who arrive by irregular means to work for them or live in their properties are to be hugely increased.
Civil penalties for employers will be increased up to a maximum of £45,000 per worker for a first breach and £60,000 for repeat offenders, tripling both from the last increase in 2014.
Landlords face fines going from £1,000 per occupier to £10,000, with repeat breaches going from £3,000 to £20,000. Penalties relating to lodgers will also be hiked.
