We start here in the uk where the government is once again under scrutiny over its decision to house Asylum Seekers on a barge off the south coast of england. The first men to be housed on the vessel called the bibby stockholm began arriving on board today. Ministers hope that up to 500 will follow, to await decisions on their asylum applications. The government says itll help reduce the costs of housing migrants in hotels and today new figures showed that a Record Number of Asylum Seekers more than 50,000 were in so called Contingency Accommodation. But campaigners have raised concerns about the conditions on the barge and its believed that some Asylum Seekers have had their transfers cancelled after legal interventions. Protestors gathered close to the barge in dorset. This was what they had to say a little earlier im against the barge, i think its extremely dangerous, as has been proved by the fire brigade. I dont think they should be on the barge. They. Its like a prison. And i thi
challenged the screening, from our point of view almost certainly hasn t. it points to a chaotic kneejerk reaction to putting people on board the barge. the people that we deal with, the asylum seekers that we deal with, are dealing with horrific circumstances in their lives. they could have been in detention, kidnapped, shot at in war zones, watched friends drowned at sea, potentially crossing the mediterranean, and now the potential to put them on board another boat in facilities that effectively, although they are not detention facilities, they might be. screening should have been taken place beforehand to screen out those perhaps with disabilities, people who are traumatised by this form of, accommodation, we clearly haven t seen that happen and therefore challenge that decision at a number of individuals have not gone to the