The United Kingdom has begun housing asylum seekers on the Bibby Stockholm, a barge docked in Portland Harbour the English county of Dorset. The first group of migrants, two men, made their way on to the vessel on Monday.
The 222-room, three-story barge is expected to host 500 men as they wait for their asylum applications to be processed by British authorities, a process that could take up to nine months.
PM Rishi Sunak has been adamant about stopping illegal migration into the UK.
According to the BBC, the Bibby Stockholm is part of the federal government's plan to lower the costs associated with housing the massive influx of migrants arriving in the UK. Most have been given hotel rooms, a program that has cost upwards of six million pounds per day.
Home Office Minister Sarah Dines said that the government wanted to "send a forceful message that there will be proper accommodation, but not luxurious," in an attemp to deter would-be migrants from making the dangerous journey to Europe under the false impression that life would be easier there.
This is a breaking story and will be updated.
The 222-room, three-story barge is expected to host 500 men as they wait for their asylum applications to be processed by British authorities, a process that could take up to nine months.
PM Rishi Sunak has been adamant about stopping illegal migration into the UK.
According to the BBC, the Bibby Stockholm is part of the federal government's plan to lower the costs associated with housing the massive influx of migrants arriving in the UK. Most have been given hotel rooms, a program that has cost upwards of six million pounds per day.
Home Office Minister Sarah Dines said that the government wanted to "send a forceful message that there will be proper accommodation, but not luxurious," in an attemp to deter would-be migrants from making the dangerous journey to Europe under the false impression that life would be easier there.
This is a breaking story and will be updated.
