LONDON: The last remaining asylum seekers being housed on the controversial floating accommodation barge Bibby Stockholm in southern England have left, local authorities said on Wednesday.

“We can confirm that the last residents moved off the barge” on Tuesday, Dorset Council said, bringing an end to over one year of political wrangling over the vessel moored in Portland.

The new Labour government decided not to renew a contract with the vessel due to expire in Jan 2025, after coming to power in July, citing additional costs to taxpayers. Local charity Portland Global Friendship Group said eight remaining asylum seekers had left the barge, with the residents “dispersed across the country” in line with an agreement not to house them locally in Dorset.

“Portland Global Friendship Group continues to support some asylum seekers as they navigate the complex asylum process,” a spokesperson said. Some had received “positive decisions, and some had their applications rejected, according to the spokesperson.

Bibby Stockholm was championed by Rishi Sunak’s previous Conservative government as a cost-cutting measure aimed at reducing the use of hotel accommodation for asylum seekers. However, it came under fierce criticism over reports of poor conditions on board, fears of Legionella bacteria and one man dying in a suspected suicide.

Designed to house up to 500 people, Bibby Stockholm cost taxpayers more than $27 million, according to a Home Office assessment from earlier this year.

The UK has been struggling to ease a hefty asylum backlog, with 86,460 pending cases in the year ending March 2024, down from 133,607 the previous year, as per government data.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer has pledged to reduce the use of hotels by speeding up the claims process. His government also dropped another contentious Tory policy to send asylum seekers to Rwanda. In 2023-2024, the Home Office spent 3 billion on hotels, compared to 2.2 billion the year before, according to a public spending watchdog. Currently, 220 hotels are being used to house asylum seekers.

Published in Dawn, November 28th, 2024