Protesters gather outside Bibby Stockholm demanding an end to the barge – after migrants aboard the vessel were disembarked due to Legionella bacteria discovery
- Protesters with placards stood outside the Bibby Stockholm in Portland, Dorset
- Many claimed ‘Portland imported disease’ after Legionella found on the vessel
Protesters have gathered outside the Bibby Stockholm to demand an end to migrants being housed on the controversial barge.
Nearby the barge in Portland, Dorset, dozens of demonstrators could be seen holding placards saying ‘Time to bin the barge’ and ‘Portland Port imports disease’.
In one photo, two people holding a flag with the words ‘No barge, stop the boats’ could be seen next to a woman holding a placard with ‘My outrage can’t fit on this sign’ written on it.
It comes after 39 migrants on board the Bibby Stockholm were evacuated on Friday when deadly legionella bacteria was found in the vessel’s water system.
And today, the Government has come under renewed pressure to tackle the crisis of migrant crossings in the Channel following the deaths of six people after a boat sank of the coast of France.
Nearby the barge in Portland, Dorset, dozens of demonstrators could be seen holding placards saying ‘Time to bin the barge’ and ‘Portland Port imports disease’
In one photo, two people holding a flag with the words ‘No barge, stop the boats’ could be seen stood next to a woman holding a placard with ‘My outrage can’t fit on this sign’ written on it
Others took aim at Portland Port chief executive Bill Reeves, holding placards scrawled with ‘Legionella! How do you sleep Bill Reeves?’ and ‘Bin Bill’s barge’.
Routine tests of the barge’s water supply were reportedly carried out on July 25 but the results only came back when asylum seekers began boarding the barge on Monday, according to Sky News. The results showed levels of legionella bacteria ‘which require further investigation’.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) advised the Government on Thursday evening to remove all six people that arrived on the Bibby Stockholm that day, but the Home Office decided to evacuate all 39 as a precaution.
Although nobody onboard had shown symptoms of the disease, officials insisted that all migrants be disembarked while further assessments are carried out.
A letter from the Home Office that was leaked to the Guardian has reportedly informed asylum seekers that they will be tested for Legionnaires diseases if they do begin to show symptoms.
What is Legionnaires’ disease and how can you catch it?
Legionnaires’ disease is a form of pneumonia or lung infection caused when a person breathes in air that contains legionella bacteria in droplets of water.
If these bacteria get into water supplies in buildings, they can cause a risk to humans through air conditioning systems, humidifiers, showers, spa pools and taps or showers that are not often used.
Legionnaires’ disease can only be contracted from contaminated water, usually when it is inhaled in aerosol form, and does not spread from person to person.
It is normally caught in places such as hotels, hospitals or offices where bacteria has got into the water supply – and it is less common to catch it at home.
You cannot usually get it from drinking water that contains the bacteria or places such as ponds, lakes and rivers.
Symptoms include a cough, shortness of breath and chest pain or discomfort, particularly when breathing or coughing. You can also have a high temperature and flu-like symptoms.
Treatment in hospital may include antibiotics given directly into a vein, oxygen through a face mask or tubes in your nose and a machine to help you breathe.
The migrants will be taken to hotels which are said to be far from Weymouth, where few rooms are available during the height of the school summer holidays.
One Syrian migrant onboard the barge told MailOnline this afternoon that he had not been given any information and had not been told to leave. He said: ‘The place is very empty but no one has said anything to us. We will have to wait and see, but it is worrying.’
With a capacity of up to 506, the Government is still hoping that use of the Bibby Stockholm, together with former military bases, will help reduce the £6million a day it is spending on hotel bills for asylum seekers.
But opponents have claimed the barge is unsafe and a ‘floating prison’, while lawyers of some migrants due to board this week have successfully argued to allow them to stay in hotels.
It was only four days ago that the first 15 men were taken onboard the vessel.
Support workers, who have spoken to some on board, claimed the asylum seekers were not being kept informed about what was happening.
Heather Jones, of the Portland Friendship Group which is supporting the migrants, said: ‘I have had texts and phone conversations from some of them and they are still on board, they haven’t been evacuated yet.
‘Nobody has told them anything. They have had to ask me what the problem is. One of them was really concerned because he had just drunk a glass of water and he was asking me if he was going to be OK.
‘I told him it is probably a precautionary measure but they shouldn’t be hearing it from me.
‘They don’t know where they are being taken to. Hopefully it will be back to the hotels where they have come from.’
There was a small group of campaigners from Stand Up To Racism at the port entrance holding placards saying ‘Legionella death trap’ and ‘human rights’.
Lynne Hubbard, from the group, said: ‘The Home Office have admitted they carried on admitting asylum seekers on the barge even though they found out about legionella on Monday.
‘They would have been drinking the water and showering in it. That shows pretty clearly what the Government thinks of asylum seekers and how much they value their lives. They are heartless.
‘An asylum seeker in there we are in contact with told us to get in touch with his family in case he dies of Legionella. That’s how frightened they are.’
It comes as the Government is facing more pressure to get a grip on the crisis of migrant crossings in the Channel following the deaths of six people after a boat sank off the coast of France.
Campaigners described the incident as an ‘appalling and preventable tragedy’, while MPs called for action to stop criminal gangs profiting from the dangerous journeys.
Some 59 people were rescued by British and French coastguards on Saturday after an overloaded vessel carrying migrants got into difficulty near Sangatte.
It comes as the Government is facing more pressure to get a grip on the crisis of migrant crossings in the Channel following the deaths of six people after a boat sank off the coast of France. Pictured: A rescue boat enters the port of Calais after a boat carrying migrants across the Channel capsized
Campaigners described the incident as an ‘appalling and preventable tragedy’. Pictured: The RNLI brings people ashore
Some 59 people were rescued by British and French coastguards on Saturday. Pictured: Border Force officials bring people ashore from the channel, some carrying babies in their arms
According to the accounts of survivors, around 65 or 66 had originally boarded the boat, France’s Maritime Prefecture of the Channel and the North Sea said.
Those rescued were mostly of Afghans and some were Sudanese, according to multiple reports.
Writing in the Sunday Express, Conservative backbencher and former party chairman Sir Jake Berry said: ‘We must put a stop to the vile people smugglers who trade in human misery and whose actions result in the loss of life.’
Meanwhile, shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said action to deter criminal gangs facilitating the journeys is ‘desperately’ necessary.
Care4Calais said the incident was an ‘appalling and preventable tragedy’, while the Refugee Council warned ‘more people will die’ unless more safe routes to the UK are created.
Home Secretary Suella Braverman described the incident as a ‘tragic loss of life’ and said she had chaired a meeting with Border Force officials later on Saturday.
The RNLI bring people ashore at Dover Docks on Saturday after rescuing them from a capsized vessel in the Channel
It comes after the Government was accused of allowing its ‘small boats week’ of linked announcements on immigration to descend into farce following the removal of dozens of asylum seekers from the Bibby Stockholm barge.
Senior Conservative backbencher David Davis said the ‘startling incompetence’ of the Home Office had been revealed after all 39 people on board the 500-capacity vessel were disembarked due to the discovery of Legionella bacteria in the water supply.
However, ministers intend to push on with plans to hire more barges to house asylum seekers, as well as student halls and former office blocks, The Telegraph reported.
The people who had been on the Bibby Stockholm, which had been billed as a cheaper alternative to expensive hotels for those awaiting the outcome of their claims, are now back being housed in alternative accommodation.
The Home Office has said the health and welfare of asylum seekers ‘remains of the utmost priority’ and that the evacuation took place as a precautionary measure, with all protocol and advice followed.
A total of 509 migrants crossed the English Channel on Saturday, bringing the total for this year to 16,679, according to Home Office figures.
Source: Read Full Article
