British immigrants plan to house hundreds of immigrants on a boat off the English coast

Local media reported today that the British government has abandoned a plan to convert a cruise ship into a migrant center on the English coast, a measure criticized by NGOs and the opposition, after receiving rejection from port authorities.

The British authorities intend to convert the ship into a floating accommodation for about 500 migrants near Birkenhead, near Liverpool.

The plan has been promoted by the Ministry of Interior with the aim of evacuating some hotels that have been converted into reception facilities.

The Europa Press news agency reported that humanitarian NGOs and opposition MPs criticized the initiative and called on the government to focus its efforts instead on reducing the number of asylum seekers through an integration policy.

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 taking migrants there.

This new refusal comes after the Port of London Authority also refused permission to dock a barge that was also to act as a detention center east of the British capital.

The government maintains that it spends £6m a day (€6.8m) to pay for hotels where asylum seekers are currently staying, which is why it is seeking other savings measures, including the use of abandoned military bases.

The main goal of the British executive is to stem the flow of immigration in the English Channel, from which more than 45,000 irregular arrivals were returned in 2022. At least 44 people were killed in this region last year.

In March, he introduced a controversial bill aimed at limiting the arrival of irregular migrants by sea in unstable boats crossing 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 the British asylum system.

According to official figures, more than 160,000 people were waiting for a decision on their asylum application in the UK at the end of December 2022, and most of them had waited more than six months.