Cedrick, a qualified teacher from Cameroon, is among about 100 people still residing on the Bibby Stockholm, an asylum seekers’ barge off the Dorset coast in the UK. He flew to Heathrow Airport in March seeking asylum after fleeing his home country with his family, who were being targeted.
For over six years, Cameroon has been embroiled in a guerrilla war between insurgents, who want certain parts of the country to become an independent state, and government forces. Armed extremist groups also pose threats in the Far North region of Cameroon. Cedrick said, “I have been persecuted and my life’s in danger. I will be killed if I go back [to Cameroon].” His parents have been attacked, their house was burned and his father’s car destroyed.
Cedrick is looking forward to starting his “second chance at life” when he leaves the Bibby Stockholm, which is set to close at the end of November. The closure was announced in July by the new Labour government following problems such as the revelation that the sea vessel’s on-board water system contained traces of Legionella bacteria. A death of an Albanian national onboard and welfare concerns were also reported.
While Cedrick feels a sense of relief knowing he can apply for asylum, he does not feel entirely positive about life on the barge. “When people are leaving they are very, very excited because here, you feel like you’re in jail, like you’re locked up. There are guards around you, security cameras everywhere. I know it’s for our safety but we feel quite uncomfortable,” he said.
The Bibby Stockholm was the first sea vessel used to house asylum seekers under the then-conservative government’s plans to reduce the cost of asylum accommodation by housing them on barges. According to the UK government, it was spending £6m per day on more than 50,000 migrants in hotels
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