Cabins aren't much bigger than prison cells on this barge being rented by the British government to house asylum seekers


Nathan Rennolds
Sun, July 23, 2023 

The Bibby Stockholm.Andrew Matthews/Getty Images

The UK is set to start housing hundreds of asylum seekers in a barge moored on Dorset coast.


The barge looks eerily like a floating prison, with bleak, narrow corridors and cramped rooms.


Immigration minister Robert Jenrick said it offered "basic and appropriate standards."

This is the Bibby Stockholm, a bleak floating accommodation block that the British government is renting to house hundreds of asylum seekers.

The 222-cabin barge is moored on the southern coast of England and will soon hold an estimated 500 men while their applications to remain in the UK are processed.

A courtyard area on the barge.Andrew Matthews/Getty Images

The barge has been the source of much controversy, with critics labeling it an inhumane way to treat vulnerable people.

Local residents have also claimed it will hurt tourism and strain health services in the area, ITV News reported.

The government says it's using the barge to reduce the number of asylum seekers put up in hotels.

The government had been "clear that those who arrive in the UK illegally should not be housed in expensive hotels," immigration minister Robert Jenrick said, according to a BBC News report.

Such vessels "provide basic and appropriate standards for small boats arrivals while their claims are determined," he added.

About 45,000 people were detected arriving by small boats in the UK in the 12 months to March, per official figures.

The government spends $7.2 million a day housing asylum seekers in hotels, according to official figures. Two NGOs – Reclaim the Seas and One Life to Live – estimated that the barge was likely to cost about $23 million a year and be even more expensive than using hotels, per the Dorset Echo.

Reporters were recently allowed on the barge to see what conditions will be like.

According to The Guardian, the cabins – which will each hold two men – are only slightly larger than prison cells.

A cabin with bunk beds on the Bibby.Andrew Matthews/Getty Images

What were single rooms have had bunk beds added, and contain very basic furniture including a desk, mirror, and cupboard. Each room has an en-suite shower and toilet, and a television that may not work.

Residents will enter by passing through airport-style security after first crossing a gangplank to get on to the barge.

Some of the security measures on the barge.Andrew Matthews/Getty Images

They will then be greeted by narrow, windowless corridors, The Guardian reported, adding that the space felt cramped but "clean and cool."

Every room at least has a window, however.

"You won't feel claustrophobic. The windows open, unlike in some hotels. There's enough public space to have a sense of freedom and openness," a staff member from Landry & Kling, the company operating the barge, told the newspaper.

The view from a cabin.Andrew Matthews/Getty Images

There is a restaurant, gym and outdoor exercise area, and residents will have access to healthcare, per BBC News.

The report also noted that the barge did appear to be relatively comfortable at the time, but that could change when hundreds of people are on board.

A medical area on the barge.Andrew Matthews/Getty Images

A 2008 Amnesty International report detailed the psychological trauma faced by some of the people who had stayed on the barge.

One 32-year-old asylum seeker described "frequent fights," overcrowding, and "little daylight," per The Independent. "The conditions force you into submission; they kill you psychologically," he said.

The Bibby Stockholm was also previously used by the Netherlands for asylum seekers.

Bibby Marine describes it as offering "luxury living" with "natural ventilation".