The UK government’s plans to house asylum seekers on decommissioned cruise ships have been thrown into disarray as two vessels were unable to find ports to dock. Although there were talks about ships being located in Wirral, near Edinburgh and London, the proposals have been refused. Sky News reported that government officials had to return two ships to their former owners after acquiring them. The shadow immigration minister, Stephen Kinnock, criticized the government, saying, “they are now shifting to yet another plan that hasn’t been thought through – spending money on boats that have nowhere to dock.”
The Wirral port operator stated widespread local opposition as a reason for declining to grant permission for the vessel to dock. Additionally, the leader of Edinburgh council, Cammy Day, last month expressed his opposition to a “floating prison” for asylum seekers. Nevertheless, a single barge housing up to 500 asylum seekers was permitted to anchor on the Isle of Portland in Dorset, which produced some ill-tempered scenes with rival factions opposing the arrival of the vessel. One side believes the ships are inhumane, while the other claims that residents could be put in danger and resources sapped.
Officials at Wirral council had written to the Home Office and set out wide-ranging concerns while they had also complained of having scant information about the scheme. Protesters had also gathered outside a Peel Ports meeting in Liverpool last month calling on the company not to allow the boat, which could have housed over 1,000 people, to moor.
Last month, Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, outlined his “strongest possible” opposition to the plans. In Dorset, Portland Labour councillor Paul Kimber said on Tuesday that “having the barge here it is going to be like a prison for them. We are not against refugees, we welcome them here.”
On Monday night, the government faced opposition in the House of Lords to controversial plans, which would prevent immigrants from claiming asylum in Britain if they arrive through unauthorized means. The proposed legislation is expected to become law soon. Furthermore, the government hopes the changes would ensure detained people are speedily removed, either to their home nation or a third country like Rwanda, a plan that is the subject of legal action
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