The British government abandoned a plan to turn a cruise ship into a migrant center on the English coast, a measure criticized by NGOs and the opposition, after receiving the refusal from the port authorities, local media reported today.
The British authorities intended to transform the ship into a floating accommodation for about 500 migrants in the vicinity of Birkenhead, near Liverpool.
The plan was promoted by the Ministry of the Interior with the aim of evicting some of the hotels converted into reception facilities.
Both humanitarian NGOs and opposition lawmakers criticized the initiative and called on the government to instead focus its efforts on reducing the number of asylum seekers through an integration policy, the Europa Press news agency reported.
These requests were rejected by the British Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, who announced his intention to further strengthen his anti-immigration policy and confirmed the acquisition of two additional boats with the intention of transferring the migrants there.
This new rejection comes after the London Port Authority also denied permission to dock a barge that was also going to function as a detention center east of the British capital.
The Government assures that it spends 6 million pounds sterling a day (6.8 million euros) to pay for the hotels in which asylum seekers currently live, for which reason it seeks other saving measures, including the use of disused military bases.
The main objective of the British Executive is to stop the migratory flow in the English Channel, to which more than 45,000 irregular arrivals were attributed in 2022. At least 44 people died in this area last year.
In March, he presented a controversial bill aimed at curbing irregular arrivals by sea in precarious boats that cross the English Channel.
Since 2018, nearly 88,000 people have made the perilous crossing of one of the world’s busiest waterways, helping to strain Britain’s asylum system.
According to official figures, more than 160,000 people were awaiting a decision on their UK asylum claim at the end of December 2022 and most had waited more than six months.
Source: Ambito
