The Home Office has announced that the contract for the Bibby Stockholm Barge to be used as asylum accommodation will not be renewed when it expires in January 2025. 

The Bibby Stockholm is a barge which has been used to accommodate people seeking asylum since August 2023. This was part of the former Home Secretary Suella Braverman’s plan to house people seeking asylum on barges and other unsuitable forms of accommodation, rather than in communities.

Currently, tens of thousands of people are being housed in asylum hotels, which costs the government around £6 million daily. The previous Conservative government aimed to save on the cost of asylum housing, by housing up to 500 people on this floating prison barge. 

We welcome this announcement that the Bibby Stockholm prison barge will be closing down in 2025 and that the government will not be renewing its contract. For us, this decision represents a partial victory and a step in the right direction. It reflects the sustained pressure and advocacy from campaigners who have consistently highlighted the inhumane conditions on the barge. 

However, we must stress that waiting until January 2025 to relocate asylum seekers is unacceptable. The current living conditions on the barge continue to pose significant humanitarian and health concerns. Delaying the relocation only prolongs the (mental, physical, and even fatal) distress and suffering of those housed there.

Therefore, we call upon the government to take immediate action and transfer all individuals currently on the Bibby Stockholm barge to appropriate accommodation without delay. This is not only a matter of urgency but a fundamental issue of human rights and dignity.

Furthermore, in the words of Freedom from Torture –

“We continue to campaign against all forms of unsuitable accommodation for refugees and urge the government to house people seeking safety in communities where they can recover and rebuild their lives in safety.”

As such, we also urge the government to shut down all other inappropriate and inhumane forms of asylum accommodation – from army barracks like Wethersfield and Scampton, to student accommodation at Huddersfield. 

We hope to see the shut down of these other forms of accommodation very soon. We will be following the upcoming legal challenge against the use of Wethersfield as asylum accommodation, and will share the developments with our community as we learn about them.

People should never be housed in unsafe and inhumane accommodation, such as the Bibby barge, or Wethersfield camp. We call on this government to #CloseTheCamps, and to reinstate proper decision making, to clear the asylum backlog and allow people to move on with their lives.