The immigrant barge - what’s actually wrong with using it?

NC523 · 2023-08-08T17:16:44+00:00

Educate me! I looked at pics from the inside, it all looks very much like standard student accommodation to me, including common rooms/relaxation areas/health support on board. Residents can go on & off the boat, it’s passed fire etc safety and been used to house people in lots of other situations. I don’t understand why people think it’s not ok. Can anyone explain please?

Nevermay · 08/08/2023 18:21

It has been furnished to house over twice the number of people it was built for, there is no way the communal areas are adequate for 500 people, and no, they can't come and go as they please, there is one bus an hour from the barge going basically nowhere, and they will need to queue for it, and might or might not get a space on it - the bus is the only route out of the fenced in dock.

It is basically a prison ship, and if one person starts a fire, there is nowhere for the other 499 to go.

Students are generally not squeezed two each into tiny rooms with only a bunk bed a wardrobe and one chair in. Students generally have access to medical care and educational facilities. Students are generally free to come and go as they please, they have privacy, they have enough toilets, they have somewhere to sit EACH, ie, they can all sit down at the same time!

Sirzy · 08/08/2023 18:23

Nevermay · 08/08/2023 18:21

It has been furnished to house over twice the number of people it was built for, there is no way the communal areas are adequate for 500 people, and no, they can't come and go as they please, there is one bus an hour from the barge going basically nowhere, and they will need to queue for it, and might or might not get a space on it - the bus is the only route out of the fenced in dock.

It is basically a prison ship, and if one person starts a fire, there is nowhere for the other 499 to go.

Students are generally not squeezed two each into tiny rooms with only a bunk bed a wardrobe and one chair in. Students generally have access to medical care and educational facilities. Students are generally free to come and go as they please, they have privacy, they have enough toilets, they have somewhere to sit EACH, ie, they can all sit down at the same time!

This.

Nevermay · 08/08/2023 18:23

People who have lived there in the past have been financially compensated for the discomfort and inconvenience! and chose it ! and it was never housing more than 220 at maximum capacity - whereas now that would be considered less than half capacity

Upsizer · 08/08/2023 18:24

The main problem is that the government won’t prioritise sorting out asylum claims. It’s taking 2-3 years. This should be the priority!

LauraNorda · 08/08/2023 18:25

Nevermay · 08/08/2023 18:21

It has been furnished to house over twice the number of people it was built for, there is no way the communal areas are adequate for 500 people, and no, they can't come and go as they please, there is one bus an hour from the barge going basically nowhere, and they will need to queue for it, and might or might not get a space on it - the bus is the only route out of the fenced in dock.

It is basically a prison ship, and if one person starts a fire, there is nowhere for the other 499 to go.

Students are generally not squeezed two each into tiny rooms with only a bunk bed a wardrobe and one chair in. Students generally have access to medical care and educational facilities. Students are generally free to come and go as they please, they have privacy, they have enough toilets, they have somewhere to sit EACH, ie, they can all sit down at the same time!

But surely even this barge is better than the conditions they have left behind in war-torn France?

Why should they expect 5 star hotels?

All the other refugee camps in the world you see on the news are just tents, even when there is snow on the ground.

Wishitsnows · 08/08/2023 18:26

I can’t see that starting a fire would be an issue any more that it would be on a luxury cruise ship where you would be out at sea and couldn’t just walk off

DaisyThistle · 08/08/2023 18:27

Nothing. It's gorgeous. Move in yourself OP and let the traumatised people who have made such appalling treks to have a stable life take your less appealing home instead.

Oopsididitagain12 · 08/08/2023 18:29

Wishitsnows · 08/08/2023 18:26

I can’t see that starting a fire would be an issue any more that it would be on a luxury cruise ship where you would be out at sea and couldn’t just walk off

Well you choose to go on a luxury ship, or not, which is not the case here. So there's that.

MrsBennetsPoorNerves · 08/08/2023 18:29

As another poster has already explained...too many people crammed into an inadequate space. I know some people don't care about this as they perceive asylum seekers as being barely human, but I am ashamed of our government for this pointless posturing... even if this accommodation was suitable (and it isn't!), it barely touches the sides of a much bigger problem. They just want to be seen to be doing something. Why don't they address the real problem instead, which is the length of time that it is taking to process claims?

megletthesecond · 08/08/2023 18:29

They're cramming in double the number of people it was designed for. It sounds like another potential Grenfell with the fire service being ignored.
Would you fancy a) living on there and trying to get out in a fire or b) going in to fight the fire knowing too many people could be trapped or pushing their way out?

Nevermay · 08/08/2023 18:30

Upsizer · 08/08/2023 18:24

The main problem is that the government won’t prioritise sorting out asylum claims. It’s taking 2-3 years. This should be the priority!

Exactly! This is a problem caused by the home office not doing its job, it needs to be solved by the home office doing its job, not by setting up prison ships around the coast of the UK

( and by the way, we would need at least another 100 to rehouse everyone currently waiting in hotels)

Greenshake · 08/08/2023 18:31

@LauraNorda who has suggested/demanded a 5 star hotel then?

Pamalot · 08/08/2023 18:31

They risk their lives in a dinghy to claim asylum after leaving a safe country and having crossed many other safe European countries. The UK provides shelter, food, money, medicine, English lessons. £6m a day is apparently being spent on 4 star hotels at the moment.

Nevermay · 08/08/2023 18:31

Wishitsnows · 08/08/2023 18:26

I can’t see that starting a fire would be an issue any more that it would be on a luxury cruise ship where you would be out at sea and couldn’t just walk off

They tend not to have customers packed in like sardines. They tend to have life boats!

JanglyBeads · 08/08/2023 18:33

Pamalot · 08/08/2023 18:31

They risk their lives in a dinghy to claim asylum after leaving a safe country and having crossed many other safe European countries. The UK provides shelter, food, money, medicine, English lessons. £6m a day is apparently being spent on 4 star hotels at the moment.

It's only £6 million because of the slow rate at which the government is now processing asylum claims.

MrsBennetsPoorNerves · 08/08/2023 18:33

Why should they expect 5 star hotels?

They don't. Literally nobody is arguing for that. 🙄

bellac11 · 08/08/2023 18:34

I suppose it would be helpful to get clarification of the actual facts

Has it been signed off by the fire brigad as being safe for the number of people now expected to use it, or was it signed off with the view that it would house a smaller number?

I suppose in this country there is a history of us using prison hulks for our undesirables so it smacks of this a bit, but equally these places have been used for workmen in the past so there is a mixture of feelings about that

The government are likely to solve the current backlog by just finding that asylum claims are not agreed and deport large number of people to countries they now think are safe, Iran, Iraq etc.

My view is we have a population growth deficient and millions of jobs unfilled, give people asylum status, let them get working

Nevermay · 08/08/2023 18:34

JanglyBeads · 08/08/2023 18:33

It's only £6 million because of the slow rate at which the government is now processing asylum claims.

Show quote history

Exactly, this is the cost of government incompetence, no one else has created the need to spend 6m a day

notgettinganyyounger · 08/08/2023 18:34

Nevermay · 08/08/2023 18:31

They tend not to have customers packed in like sardines. They tend to have life boats!

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Why would they need lifeboats?

Approaching · 08/08/2023 18:35

I wouldn’t have a big problem with the government using it if they were using the money saved to actually speed up the asylum application process so that no one would have to live on it for more than a few months. But they’re not, for some unfathomable reason they’re letting the Home Office continue to shamble on at a snails pace with an enormous backlog.

siblingrevelryagain · 08/08/2023 18:36

For every person who argues that ‘at least they’re safe/they’ve left a shitstorm so should be grateful’, I wonder what you would think if I said I had allowed my friend to sleep in my shed, even gave her blankets and food, when she fled her domestic abuse situation, and justified any criticism by saying that ‘at least she was safe, she should be grateful’

People deserve kindness and dignity; more so when fleeing trauma

LauraNorda · 08/08/2023 18:37

Greenshake · 08/08/2023 18:31

@LauraNorda who has suggested/demanded a 5 star hotel then?

@Greenshake Slip of the keyboard. It's mostly 4 star hotels. The conditions must be appalling.

LivingDeadGirlUK · 08/08/2023 18:37

We don't want the government to find more ways to keep traumatised people in limbo so their mates can get lucrative security/catering/supply contracts.

We want them to fund the required staff to decrease processing times, and with that number of asylum seekers who need to be housed.

It is an absolute disgrace that people are left for 3 years in these conditions.

BIWI · 08/08/2023 18:37

@LauraNorda

Why should they expect 5 star hotels?

Are you seriously suggesting that this barge is the equivalent of a 5 star hotel?!

Pamalot · 08/08/2023 18:37

My guess is it is a deterrent like Rwanda. To try and stem the numbers. There is a difference between genuine asylum seekers and economic migrants which I guess is causing the problems. Also the number of solicitors making a fortune through it all. Perhaps the Government should make a decision as to who can and cannot claim asylum.