Apart from the warnings and dangers about the mental damage of asylum seekers due to such action, there are serious questions about the safety of this barge, which London has not paid attention to, despite human rights claims. A government assessment of housing asylum seekers on the Bibby Stockholm barge has found that the policy discriminates on the grounds of sex and age.
Charlotte Khan, head of advocacy and public affairs at Care4Calais said: “Placing humans in prison-like barges and camps, held behind barbed wire fences and segregated from the rest of society, is discriminatory by its very nature.” He added: “People on the Bibby Stockholm have consistently told us that they feel that the government are treating them like animals by putting them on the barge. It’s no wonder then that the Bibby Stockholm has become a symbolic illustration for this government’s proxy war against asylum seekers.” He finally noted: “It needs closing down before the survivors of torture and persecution are put through more suffering.”
A spokesperson for the Refugee Council said: “The Bibby Stockholm is not a suitable or safe place to house those who come to our shores seeking our protection. For those onboard it feels like a prison and they are not able to get the specialist support they need. He continued: “People who have fled war oppression and persecution deserve to be treated with compassion and humanity. They should be housed in our communities not fenced off for months on end left feeling desperate and isolated.”
It should be noted that in November 2023, a 27-year-old Albanian citizen named Leonard Farruku who had been settled on the barge, committed suicide and died on this ship.