Bibby Stockholm: Migrant barge faces legal challenge over fire safety

Government plans to accommodate asylum seekers connected a barge look connected England's southbound seashore a imaginable ineligible situation implicit occurrence safety.

Lawyers for the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) person written to Home Secretary Suella Braverman raising issues including overcrowding and occurrence exit entree connected committee the Bibby Stockholm.

The authorities has been fixed until Thursday to respond.

The Home Office says the wellbeing of asylum seekers is simply a priority.

The Bibby Stockholm is simply a three-story barge, presently berthed successful Portland Port, Dorset, which is intended to clasp astir 500 men portion they await the result of their asylum applications.

The first people were moved onto it astatine the commencement of this month, though they were aboriginal removed erstwhile the Legionella bacteria, which tin origin superior illness, was detected.

Matt Wrack, the wide caput of the FBU, said the national had moved towards a ineligible situation aft spending weeks trying to rise concerns with the government.

In their missive to the Home Office, lawyers for the FBU cited media reports which said the Bibby Stockholm had lone 222 single-occupancy rooms, but that further beds had been placed successful each successful bid to to summation the capableness to 506.

Other reports said that, portion the barge had 3 occurrence exits, 1 was not operational due to the fact that it was astatine the extremity of a gangway that had been deemed excessively steep to beryllium safely used.

A whistleblower successful the section authorization is besides quoted arsenic telling the Times that occurrence checks successful July had led to superior information concerns and describing the barge arsenic having the imaginable to go a "floating Grenfell".

The FBU antecedently asked to conscionable with Ms Braverman to sermon its concerns, but the petition was turned down.

In a missive to the national connected 17 August, migration curate Robert Jenrick said the authorities had already engaged with each the due bodies.

He added that the information request for the Bibby Stockholm were the aforesaid arsenic for immoderate berthed vas and that occurrence information checks had been completed successfully.

A Home Office spokesperson said: "The wellness and payment of asylum seekers remains of the utmost priority.

"The Bibby Stockholm successfully completed each occurrence and information checks up the archetypal individuals boarding. The vas completed a statutory inspection and refurbishment earlier undergoing last preparations to accommodate asylum seekers."

The latest situation comes arsenic the Home Office considers plans to acceptable radical arriving illegally successful the UK with GPS tags arsenic an alternate to detaining them due to the fact that of a deficiency of abstraction successful the migration detention estate, according to the Times.