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Charities Urge Ministers To Close Bibby Stockholm After Suspected Suicide

Poppy Lindsey
Image of the Bibby Stockholm Barge in Portland Port, Dorset to house asylum seekers

Poppy Lindsey

Content warning: This article contains mentions of suicide.

Ministers are being urged to close the Bibby Stockholm barge, following the death of an asylum seeker by a suspected suicide.

Suspected Suicide On Bibby Stockholm

Dorset Police are investigating the ‘sudden death’ on the Home Office accommodation in Portland, leased by the former Home Secretary, MP Suella Braverman, to house recently arrived asylum seekers to the UK. 

The man, said to have been in his twenties, is understood to have been found early on Tuesday morning by his room-mate. 

“…citing the barge as a ‘death trap’ that felt ‘like a prison’”

Braverman announced plans to lease the huge vessel earlier this year, which has previously been used to house oil and gas workers. The first group of UK asylum seekers arrived on board in August. 

It wasn’t long before they were forced to leave again, when deadly bacteria Legionella was found in the barge’s water supply.

Months later, in October, asylum seekers were placed back on to the barge, despite citing the barge as a “death trap” that felt “like a prison.”

Calls For Bibby Stockholm To Close

Since the vessel was put into motion, charities called for more humane ways of housing people arriving in the UK, after often treacherous and traumatising journeys. 

“We have regularly been reporting suicidal intentions amongst residents and no action is taken.”

In a letter published in the Guardian on Friday, more than 60 charities and three Labour MPs demanded the immediate closure of the Bibby Stockholm barge and called for an independent inquiry into the death so that those responsible are held accountable.

The charities include Refugee Action, Refugee Council, Care4Calais and Refugees at Home. The MPs are Nadia Whittome, Kim Johnson and Olivia Blake.

The signatories write: “The barge is no place to accommodate people who have fled violence, persecution and torture, many of whom are traumatised and isolated.”

“This country must never again house those who come to our shores seeking safety in such an inappropriate and inhumane place,” they say.

Steve Valdez-Symonds, Refugee and Migrant Rights Director at Amnesty International UK, said the incident demonstrates that its time for the UK to drastically change course on asylum.

He said: “We remain very concerned about the fear, isolation and despair on people seeking asylum – including those on this barge – are subject to.”

CEO of Care4Calais, Steve Smith, said: “The UK Government must take responsibility for this human tragedy. They have wilfully ignored the trauma they are inflicting on people who are sent to the Bibby Stockholm, and the hundreds being accommodated in former military barracks. 

“They are being separated from the rest of society and we have witnessed a serious deterioration of people’s mental health. We have regularly been reporting suicidal intentions amongst residents and no action is taken.”

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Featured image courtesy of Andrew Bone via Flickr. No changes or alterations have been made to this image. Image license found here.

Poppy graduated from the University of Reading in June 2022, with a degree in Philosophy and Politics. She currently works as Welfare Officer at Reading Students Union, and is starting formal journalism training in September 2023 at News Associates. She has a keen interest in human rights, social action, and the intersectional feminist movement.

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