Protest at UK asylum seeker barge over long wait time

LONDON: Dozens of asylum seekers living on a barge in southern England staged a protest on Monday to urge the government to speed up asylum procedures, a charity said.

Between 60 to 100 residents of the government-leased Bibby Stockholm in Portland harbour withdrew from meals and organised a two-hour-long sit-in, according to group Stand up to Racism Dorset.

Some locals gathered outside to join the protest, carrying signs including “Life not Limbo” and “no to floating prison”. A Stand up to Racism Dorset spokesperson said almost all of the men on the barge had been waiting more than a year to know their outcomes, which was causing a “significant deterioration in their mental health”.

“The continual ´not knowing´ together with difficult barge living conditions is affecting some very badly,” the spokesperson said. Designed to house up to 500 asylum seekers, the accommodation has also come under fire because of complaints of conditions on board.

Some have likened it to a prison. One man was found dead in a suspected suicide lastDecember. Asylum seekers were moved to the barge starting August last year as the previous Conservative government attempted to lower the costs of housing asylum claimants, many of whom stay in hotels.

The UK has been grappling with a hefty asylum backlog, which fell to around 86,000 claimants in 2024 from a high of 132,000 last year, according to government data. According to research group Migration Observatory, over 60 percent had waited for more than six months for an initial decision on their asylum status. Last week, interior minister Yvette Cooper did not say whether the new Labour government would stop using the barge to house asylum seekers.