Eight men left the barge moored in Dorset in southern England on Tuesday (November 26), according to a local charity, the Portland Global Friendship Group (PGFG). Ten others had left the previous day.

The move comes after around 300 asylum seekers were transferred off the barge last month and relocated to so-called "dispersal housing" in towns and cities throughout England and Wales. The government refers to this as "long-term temporary accommodation" where asylum seekers stay until their claim is fully determined.

The PGFG will continue supporting many of these asylum seekers remotely, a spokesperson was quoted by the PA news agency as saying. They added that some of the men transferred off the barge had received positive asylum decisions and some had their applications rejected. 

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Contract axed

The Labour government announced earlier this year that the contract with the owners of the Bibby Stockholm would run out in January 2025. It says renewing it would have cost more than 20 million pounds next year.

A local Labour MP, Lloyd Hatton, welcomed the closure of the barge, which he said had been "a gimmick".

One asylum seeker also told PA that "everyone was happy" that the accommodation, which he said sometimes felt like a prison, was shutting down, according to a report in the Nation, a Welsh online news service.

A migrant and refugee support group based in London and Essex, RAMFEL, wrote on X: "Closure is welcome but it’s disgraceful that it ever operated."

But the Conservative former home secretary, Suella Braverman, said the move was a mistake.

"[The Bibby Stockholm] was an appropriate form of accommodation," she told BBC reporter Peter Henley. "The closure of that barge will just mean more hotels being used to house migrants."

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Housing issue unresolved

Where to house the tens of thousands of asylum seekers needing accommodation in the UK remains a thorny issue for the government. It says it is committed to ending the use of hotels after much was made of the high cost to taxpayers.

In 2024, hotel accommodation cost the government 3 billion pounds, according to the National Audit Office, a public spending watchdog. However, the Minister for Border Security and Asylum, Angela Eagle, confirmed last week that 220 hotels are currently being used to house asylum seekers, a slight increase since July.

Labour has also promised to close the UK’s largest asylum accommodation center, Wethersfield, which is a former air force base in Essex. Conditions at the site have been heavily criticized for failing to meet basic standards for humane living.

Meanwhile, the backlog of asylum cases still to be processed stands at more than 86,400. The shutting down of the Bibby Stockholm barge, which could take at most 500 people, will not have a significant impact on the housing issue.

Controversial from the outset, the floating accommodation was part of the previous government’s policy of deterring undocumented migrants from coming to the UK. But it faced continual setbacks, including the discovery of legionella bacteria in the water system and a fire onboard.

Tragedy struck in December 2023 when a 27-year-old man from Albania, Leonard Farruku, was found dead on the barge. It is thought that he took his own life. 

Following his death, more than 65 organizations, including Refugee Action and the Refugee Council, signed an open letter demanding the immediate closure of the barge. The letter described the Bibby Stockholm as "an inappropriate and inhumane place" to house people who have fled violence and persecution.

Asylum seekers in the UK who need help, advice or guidance can contact the Migrant Help hotline 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

If you need to talk to someone, you can call the Samaritans helpline 116 123 from within the UK anytime, from any phone, for free.