LONDON: Britain’s new Labour government will end the use of the controversial Bibby Stockholm barge to house migrants off the south coast of England as part of its overhaul of the asylum system, it said on Tuesday.
Use of the vessel, which can house up to 500 men, began under the Conservative government with the aim of cutting the 8 million pounds a day cost of hotel accommodation for asylum seekers while their claims are processed.
The Bibby Stockholm, anchored off Dorset, became a high-profile symbol of Britain’s tough asylum policy under the Conservatives, with human rights campaigners comparing it to a prison ship and criticizing its use as inhumane.
One man died on board last year and a separate water contamination issue forced the government to remove migrants for a number of weeks.
Britain’s Home Office, or interior ministry, said use of the barge would end once its contract expires in January.
The move is part of Labour’s efforts to overhaul Britain’s asylum system by resuming the processing of claims for the tens of thousands of migrants it says were left in limbo and at risk of deportation under previous policy.
The new government has also scrapped the Conservatives’ scheme to send to Rwanda any migrants who arrived illegally in Britain on small boats.
“We are determined to restore order to the asylum system, so that it operates swiftly, firmly and fairly; and ensures the rules are properly enforced,” Minister for Border Security and Asylum Angela Eagle said.
The Home Office said extending the use of the Bibby Stockholm would have cost more than 20 million pounds ($26 million) next year.
In total, changes to the asylum system would save taxpayers an estimated 7 billion pounds over the next 10 years, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said on Monday.
UK to end use of controversial Bibby Stockholm migrant barge
https://arab.news/9rg82
UK to end use of controversial Bibby Stockholm migrant barge
- The Bibby Stockholm, anchored off Dorset, became a high-profile symbol of Britain’s tough asylum policy under the Conservatives
- Britain’s Home Office, or interior ministry, said use of the barge would end once its contract expires in January
UN chief calls on Israel to reverse NGOs ban in Gaza
- In November, authorities in Gaza said more than 70,000 people had been killed there since the war broke out
- Israel on Thursday suspended 37 foreign humanitarian organizations from accessing the Gaza Strip after they had refused to share lists of their Palestinian employees with government officials
UNITED NATIONS, United States: UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres called on Friday for Israel to end a ban on humanitarian agencies that provided aid in Gaza, saying he was “deeply concerned” at the development.
Guterres “calls for this measure to be reversed, stressing that international non-governmental organizations are indispensable to life-saving humanitarian work and that the suspension risks undermining the fragile progress made during the ceasefire,” his spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said in a statement.
“This recent action will further exacerbate the humanitarian crisis facing Palestinians,” he added.
Israel on Thursday suspended 37 foreign humanitarian organizations from accessing the Gaza Strip after they had refused to share lists of their Palestinian employees with government officials.
The ban includes Doctors Without Borders (MSF), which has 1,200 staff members in the Palestinian territories — the majority of whom are in Gaza.
NGOs included in the ban have been ordered to cease their operations by March 1.
Several NGOS have said the requirements contravene international humanitarian law or endanger their independence.
Israel says the new regulation aims to prevent bodies it accuses of supporting terrorism from operating in the Palestinian territories.
On Thursday, 18 Israel-based left-wing NGOs denounced the decision to ban their international peers, saying “the new registration framework violates core humanitarian principles of independence and neutrality.”
A fragile ceasefire has been in place since October, following a deadly war waged by Israel in response to Hamas’s unprecedented October 7, 2023, attack on Israel.
In November, authorities in Gaza said more than 70,000 people had been killed there since the war broke out.
Nearly 80 percent of buildings in Gaza have been destroyed or damaged by the war, according to UN data, leaving infrastructure decimated.
About 1.5 million of Gaza’s more than two million residents have lost their homes, said Amjad Al-Shawa, director of the Palestinian NGO Network in Gaza.
