An asylum seeker has died aboard a barge housing migrants off the south coast of England, a refugee charity said Tuesday, with local reports claiming that the deceased took their own life.
The death on the Bibby Stockholm—a highly controversial three-story accommodation vessel used by the British government in an effort to reduce costs associated with asylum housing—is merely the latest distressing incident associated with the barge, which critics have called “cruel” and “inhumane.” The purported suicide also comes as U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is attempting to protect another of his anti-immigration policies which the right-wing of his party believe does not go far enough.
The death on the barge, which can provide housing for up to 500 people, was reported by Care4Calais, a refugee charity supporting migrants in the U.K., northern France, and Belgium. “Our thoughts are with the person who has lost their life, their family and their friends,” CEO Steve Smith said. He added that others on board would be “experiencing a deep feeling of grief and worry today” and said the British government “must take responsibility for this human tragedy.”
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The Home Office, the British interior ministry, says it is aware of the reports of an incident on the barge involving an asylum seeker. The ministry has not yet provided further information, but Britain’s ITV cited others on board the Bibby Stockholm as saying the person died by suicide. Richard Drax, a local Conservative lawmaker who had opposed plans to house migrants on the barge, told The Times: “I can confirm that tragically there has been a suicide,” adding: “This is very sad news, anyone taking their life is very tragic.”
The death comes after a series of setbacks involving the barge. Mere hours after the first migrants were brought aboard in mid-August, Home Office contractors were informed that potentially lethal legionella bacteria had been detected in the water on the vessel. All 39 migrants on board at the time were evacuated several days later. No asylum seekers were brought back to the barge for over two months.
A local firefighting union had also raised concerns that the vessel could become a “potential death trap” due to an alleged lack of fire safety measures and a high risk of arson attacks. A group of asylum seekers who were briefly housed on the Bibby Stockholm even wrote a letter to the U.K.’s former Home Secretary Suella Braverman describing the barge as “an unsafe, frightening and isolated place” and warned that one person had attempted suicide.
Asked in August about whether he’d order an investigation into the alleged suicide attempt, Sunak ignored the question, insisted “the plan is working” and said the “current situation with illegal migration is simply ridiculous,” according to The Guardian.
Tuesday’s death came on the same day that Sunak was desperately attempting to convince his Tory lawmaker colleagues to support his flagship anti-immigration policy—which would see illegal migrants to the U.K. sent to Rwanda in east-central Africa. The policy was actually unveiled by Sunak’s predecessor, Boris Johnson, but the first flight sending migrants from the U.K. to Rwanda scheduled for June 2022 never got off the ground due to legal challenges.
Sunak has pushed forward regardless in attempts to get the policy going, believing that the threat of being sent to Rwanda might deter people from attempting to illegally enter Britain by perilously crossing the English Channel in small boats.
The U.K. Supreme Court in November ruled the plan unlawful on the grounds that migrants sent to Rwanda may end up being returned to their home nations where they could be harmed. Sunak is now trying to pass a new bill formally declaring Rwanda a safe country under British law, ordering judges to ignore local human rights legislation.
Some Conservative lawmakers fear the bill breaches international law. Others further to the right dislike it because they think it doesn’t go far enough, and will end up leaving the whole Rwanda scheme subject to further legal roadblocks.
Members of the British parliament will vote on the bill on Tuesday. “Today MPs will vote on the toughest ever anti-illegal immigration legislation,” Sunak posted on X. “This bill will allow us to control who comes into this country—not criminal gangs or foreign courts. To stop the boats, we need to back this bill.”
