Summary:
- The British government has started housing asylum seekers on a massive floating house the size of a football field.
- The move aims to reduce costs and discourage dangerous English Channel crossings.
- The ship, equipped with over 200 rooms and bunk beds, reflects the government's effort to address a recent surge in asylum seekers.
- British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has prioritized stopping the boats before the upcoming general election.
- Critics argue the project may re-traumatize migrants and draw parallels with historical prison hulks.
- The government is also considering sending asylum seekers to Rwanda as part of its migration plans.
A ship the size of a football field is the new home for some asylum seekers in England. The British government on August 7th began housing the migrants on the massive floating house that is now docked on the country's southern coast.
It's an effort, the government said, to reduce the cost of housing migrants in hotels and to discourage asylum seekers from attempting the dangerous English Channel crossing. The barge is three stories high and retrofitted with bunk beds and more than 200 rooms. The British government wants to use barges and former military facilities to address a recent surge in asylum seekers. More than 45,000 people last year crossed the roughly 20 miles of choppy waters from northern France and England seeking new homes. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has pledged to stop the boats, one of his stated biggest priorities before the next general election in January.
Sunak's government says the barge will only affect those who are waiting for a decision on their asylum applications. Housing migrants in hotels is a costly business. More than 50,000 migrants were being housed in hotels as of June of this year and it runs the country about $7.6 million a day. Opponents of the project said it is likely to be re-traumatizing to the migrants. The ship is reminiscent of the prison hulks from the Victorian era, said Steve Valdez-Simons, the refugee and migrant rights director at Amnesty International UK. It is an utterly shameful way to house people who fled terror, conflict and persecution.
Among the government's other migration plans include sending asylum seekers to Rwanda.