Migrant Burdens

"[People arriving in the United Kingdom through unauthorized means should have] basic but proper accommodation. [They] can't expect to stay in a four-star hotel."

"[The opening of the barge] sends a forceful message that there will be proper accommodation but not luxurious [and that it could house 500 men by the end of the week]."

Home Office Minister Sarah Dines, London

Cabins on the barge surround enclosed courtyards   PA Media

"These 20 [migrants who refused to move to the barge] range from survivors of torture to people who have been beaten, shot at, some arrested, some traumatized by seeing their friends drown at sea and who therefore have a severe fear of water."

"There appears to have been no suitability screening. I understand that on that basis some removals to the barge have ceased."

Steve Smith, chief executive, Care4Calais

Migrants cross English Channel in small boats    BBC

Europe has been coping for years with an influx of illegal migrants, a situation seen as well in North America. Every country has a right to determine its immigration levels, and most countries are committed to an intake of refugees from troubled parts of the world. Illegal migration has overtaken the legal steps that emigrants from abroad have taken the trouble to pursue to become landed immigrants and eventually citizens of countries with advanced social systems and economies. 

The overwhelmingly huge numbers of people paying substantial sums of money to human smugglers to enable them to reach a desired destination, illegally, with hopes of establishing themselves elsewhere than their home countries in the Middle East, Haiti, Central America, Southeast Asia and Africa has strained the capacity of those target countries to cope. Claims of refugee status, the search for economic havens are ongoing, despite that some of the journeys presenting the dangers of lethal hazards failing to discourage the hordes determined to reach their favoured destinations.

The cost to those countries that migrants flood is enormous in housing, medical treatment, social services and the bureaucracy involved in vetting claims. The U.K. government has introduced a new method of housing migrants until their claims can be formally processed to determine whether they are legitimate and whether the claimants may pose a risk. A vessel has been docked in Portland, Dorset with the intention of holding up to 500 men awaiting their asylum decision. The three-storey vessel has 222 rooms for accommodation.

The cost of 5 million pounds daily to house 51,000 asylum seekers in hotels has become too taxpayer-burdensome. Over 15,000 migrants reached Britain this year, reduced by 14 percent over last year as a result of poor weather impacting on the perilous ocean voyages the migrants undertake on inadequate boats provided to them by the human smugglers they pay for the privilege of risking their lives. 

The rooms on the barge accommodate two, four or six people to a room in bunk beds with bathroom ensuite. And migrants are now being transferred from the hotels they've been put up in to the migrant barge. Protesters gathered on the site, one a campaign calling itself "no to the barge", the other a group from Stand Up to Racism, handing out "welcome packs" to the arrivals, containing toiletries, pens and an area map. The migrants came by water in small crowded boats, but complain water on a huge barge in port frightens them.

TV crews film as a coach carrying asylum seekers arrives at Portland Port  PA Media

 Some 20 migrants refused to move to the barge, citing "severe fear of water" and trauma experienced from witnessing people drown at sea. The barge, owned by U.K.-based Bibby Marine is used under normal circumstances to provide temporary housing for workers when local accommodation is unavailable. Monday saw the arrival of the first 50 migrants to be housed on the barge for up to nine months. There will be security guards on 24/7 duty,  airport-style baggage screening, metal detector and ID swipe cards when they enter or leave through a gangway to a single main entrance.

Interior footage shows long ferry-like corridors, a large room with desks and laptops, a television room with armchairs, and a canteen. There will be free taxis so that those on board, free to leave at any time on foot or through buses from 7:00 am to 11:00 pm to Weymouth, can be returned should they miss the last bus leaving for the barge. According to involved officials, those on board the barge will have access to "more services and activities than in hotels", to help them integrate with the local community and reduce demands on local services.

The barge represents one of three sites where plans are to have around 3,000 asylum seekers accommodated under Britain's effort to stop the small boats crossing the English Channel. The other two sites are located at former Royal Air Force bases Wethersfield in Essex and Scampton in Lincolnshire.