A floating facility where the British government intends to house asylum seekers while their cases are heard by the judicial system arrived in Britain on Tuesday.
Reuters/The floating facility where migrants will be housed has arrived in the UK
The huge three-story facility with 222 bedrooms will be the temporary home of some 500 asylum seekers, though they may take a long time there.
The government designates the facility for single adult men, and only after it is fully absorbed. The facility was transported by barge stationed for the time being in Cornwall, where the facility will undergo various modifications by British authorities before docking in Portland Harbour near the town of Weymouth in southwest England.
Human rights groups claim that it is in fact a prison for infiltrators and goes beyond what a humane state is allowed to do, but authorities say it will make it easier to deal with and protect their asylum claims.
If all goes according to plan, it will begin to be used in the summer months, and for at least a year and a half. The British government, which sees fighting illegal immigration as one of its main objectives, wants to flaunt gains ahead of the general election in late 2024 (or early 2025). It has also recently been pushing for a controversial deportation agreement with the Rwandan government, but it is currently in legal trouble.
Proponents of the move argue that the costs are much lower than housing in hotels. It is estimated that the rent and mooring fees the government will pay exceed £20,50 a day, in addition to thousands of pounds for security and other services for the infiltrators, including health care at the facility. But Prime Minister Rishi Sunak believes this is a tiny sum compared to the current situation. He claims that the government now houses asylum seekers in hotels costing over six million pounds a day. Every year, about <>,<> asylum seekers arrive in the kingdom illegally.
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