By Lauren Turner, Tom Symonds, Andre Rhoden-Paul & Dan Johnson
BBC News
An asylum seeker on board the Bibby Stockholm barge, which houses migrants off the Dorset coast, has died.
Sources told the BBC that the man is thought to have taken his own life.
Migrants added that the man had complained about life onboard the barge before his death. The Home Office said welfare was of the utmost importance.
Dorset Police were called to the vessel, docked off Portland, just after 06:20 GMT on Tuesday and its officers are carrying out enquiries.
Downing Street said support continues to be made available to those on the barge.
The three-storey barge houses people awaiting the outcome of their asylum applications and has capacity for up to 500 men.
The death happened in one of the more than 200 cabins on board, a source familiar with the incident said.
BBC News spoke to asylum seekers, who did not want to be identified, but said they were on the barge at the time the man died.
One claimed the man who died had been shouting in a corridor between 22:00 and 23:00, when security asked him to be silent and return to his room.
“He was shouting at someone and complaining [saying] everyday this happen to me, the food is not good, and the environment… and the one line he repeated ‘I am not a scapegoat'”.
One of the group said the man began shouting again around 03:00 before he was confronted by security.
Another migrant said he woke up at 06:30 to the sounds of ambulance sirens, before learning of the death.
“There’s no good food, the procedures are not good, then stress”, he added, suggesting staff talk to migrants like they are prisoners.
When asked about the claims, a Home Office spokesperson said it took its responsibility for wellbeing incredibly seriously.
“This will now be investigated by the police and coroner. It is right that the facts and circumstances surrounding this death are established.”
Home Secretary James Cleverly told MPs the death would be fully investigated, adding: “I’m sure that the thoughts of the whole House, like mine, are with those affected.”
The age and nationality of the dead man are yet to be confirmed. The coroner’s office has been notified.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said migrants on the barge have a medical assessment and have been assessed for signs of emotional trauma, and continue to have support available to them.
‘Tragic death forewarned’
The Prisons and Probation Ombudsman, which investigates deaths in immigration detention centres, has said it would not investigate the case because Bibby Stockholm is not a detention facility.
Deborah Coles, director of the charity Inquest, said “given reports that conditions on the barge are prison-like” it was “reasonable” to expect the ombudsman to investigate the death.
“This was a tragic death forewarned,” she said. “It is vital that it is investigated by an independent body and not by the government whose own policy it was to place asylum seekers there.”
The vessel was first used for accommodating asylum seekers in August but was evacuated after Legionella bacteria was found in the water supply, with people returning to it in October.
The barge is the first to be used as part of government plans to reduce the cost of asylum accommodation.
There was considerable opposition to the plan, both from local people and national organisations, with campaigners calling it “cruel and inhumane”. Many of them responded to Tuesday’s news by calling for an end to the use of the barge for accommodation.
Reacting to the death, Richard Drax, Conservative MP for South Dorset, said it was a “tragedy born of an impossible situation”.
The Refugee Council’s chief executive Enver Solomon called for an independent review to be carried out following the “appalling loss of life” in order “to avoid any further tragedies of this kind”.
He said: “A new approach that always sees the face behind the case and treats every individual person with the dignity and humanity they deserve is urgently needed.”
Mr Solomon added the asylum system has “more hostility than compassion built into it”.
Image source, PA Media
Flowers have been left at the entrance to Bibby Stockholm
Amnesty International UK’s refugee and migrants director, Steve Valdez-Symond, argued that the people fleeing “persecution and conflict in countries like Afghanistan, Iran, Syria, Sudan and Eritrea” were being “completely lost” in the current debate.
Steve Smith, CEO of refugee charity Care4Calais, said: “The UK government must take responsibility for this human tragedy.”
The Bishop of Sherborne, Karen Gorham, said news of the death had “shaken the community”, as local church and faith groups had got to know some of the men on board.
News of the death comes as Prime Minister Rishi Sunak saw off a rebellion to pass the Rwanda bill through its first stage in the Commons tonight.
The scheme would see those who arrive in the UK illegally sent to the east African country, where they could claim asylum.
- If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this story you can visit BBC Action Line.
BBC News investigates the community reaction to the arrival of the Bibby Stockholm barge in the town of Portland, Dorset.
