2023-08-09 00:06:39
The first 15 migrants transferred to the floating prison installed in the port of Portland, in the United Kingdom, have already arrived on the Bibby Stockholm barge. Loaded with their luggage, it has not even been possible to see in what conditions they did it, because the only images that have been released of the moment are aerial.
The ship, now converted into a detention center for migrants, intends to house up to 500 asylum seekers. The British fire union, however, has warned of the danger that this would entail, because the small size of the ship could trigger dangerous overcrowding and health problems.
Meanwhile, NGOs and even former Prime Minister Theresa May have called Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s project inhumane. “These are people who have experienced some of the worst trauma you can have in life. They have been through horrible situations to get to where they are now,” said Steve Smith, CEO of the organization Care4Calais.
For the United Nations, it is a violation of the rights of refugees. “His request will not be heard,” denounced Vicky Tennant, UNHCR representative in the British country, who has warned that “the Government will have a duty to try to transfer him to another country and if he cannot do so, he will end up in limbo in the UK indefinitely, which is not good news for anyone.
A project with which Sunak seeks to fulfill his campaign promises to stop the arrival of migrants without a residence permit in the United Kingdom and save, he says, more than seven million euros a day from public coffers in hotels for migrants, although the enclave of this barge is also costing the British Government millions.
#migrants #transferred #floating #prison