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A giant three-story houseboat arrived in the UK Tuesday ready to house at least 500 asylum seekers to help ease a daily $7.5 million hotel bill.
The Bibby Stockholm arrived by tow in Falmouth, where it will be refit before moving again to be berthed off the coast of Dorset.
The UK government announced last month that it had leased the barge for 18 months to house 500 single adult males who are free to come and go around the local area, a tourist hotspot.
The barge’s website says it offers “luxury living,” with Wi-Fi throughout and amenities including a full gym with treadmills, cross trainers and weights as well as a games room with pool tables. Those onboard will also get health care and 24-hour security.
It will cost about $63 each day for each migrant, so about $31,500 a day when full — just a third of the price of keeping the migrants in hotels, according to the Telegraph.
More than 45,000 migrants crossed the Channel into the UK last year, costing at least $7.5 million a day to accommodate them in hotels, the government said.
Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick said “alternative accommodation options” are needed to “save the British taxpayer money and to prevent the UK becoming a magnet for asylum shoppers in Europe.”
However, local politicians in Dorset say they are considering legal action to stop the “inappropriate” plan to house the migrants in a busy tourist area that hosts cruise ships.
“What are the conditions going to be like in a barge with 506 young men from all over the world — some possibly disturbed mentally — cooped up in a quasi-prison?” MP Richard Drax asked the Telegraph.
The Dorset Council said it had “serious reservations about the appropriateness of Portland Port in this scenario and remains opposed to the proposals.”
Pete Roper, the mayor for Portland Port, where the barge with eventually be berthed, said that “the personal safety of the women on the island is rising to the top of the list” of concerns.
“There is a lot of hearsay floating around at the moment regarding the behavior of asylum seekers at hotels in other parts of the country,” he said.
Those housed on the barge are free to leave, but officials call to check in on them if they do not return to spend the night, the Telegraph said.
Those who remain out for more than seven days — or 14 calendar days within a six-month period — face getting booted, the outlet said.
With Post wires
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