UK barge branded a 'potential deathtrap'

The first of nearly 500 male asylum-seekers aged 18 to 65 were due to be housed on a barge off the southern coast of England on Monday, the BBC reported.

The floating accommodation block, called the Bibby Stockholm, has been docked off the coast of the southern county of Dorset for almost three weeks. It had lain empty over safety concerns.

The craft has previously been used to house oil and gas workers, as well as asylum-seekers in other countries, but its capacity was only 222, which has now been more than doubled to 500 through the introduction of bunk beds and conversion of communal rooms.

The proposed move has been heavily criticized by human rights campaigners, local politicians, and the Fire Brigades Union.

The union's assistant general secretary Ben Selby told The Guardian newspaper that "as the only professional voice, firefighters believe the Bibby Stockholm to be a potential deathtrap".

Carralyn Parkes, the mayor of Portland, where the vessel will be docked, has also expressed concerns, accusing the Home Office of being "inconsistent and opaque in their decision-making" and trying to rush things through.

"The Bibby Stockholm is not a suitable place to house asylum-seekers … human beings belong in communities," she added.

An open letter signed by a group of charities called the vessel "entirely inappropriate" for the purpose for which the government wants to use it.

'Cruel and inhumane'

"Containing people who have been through traumatizing experiences, especially on a floating vessel, is cruel and inhumane," the letter said.

"Those who will be contained on the barge are not criminals; they are seeking protection in the UK …yet people will be held in detention-like conditions with severe restrictions on freedom of movement."

A Home Office representative said the vessel would "comply with all appropriate regulations, including all relevant health and safety standards with protocols in place to respond to any health risks."

Employers and landlords dealing with illegal migrants will also face tougher sentences under new regulations announced this week.

In a tripling of the previous maximum amounts, employers could face fines of up to 45,000 pounds ($57,296) per worker for the first breach of the rules, and 60,000 pounds for subsequent breaches.

The increases for landlords will be even bigger, from 1,000 pounds up to 10,000 pounds, with repeat offender penalties rising from 3,000 pounds to 20,000 pounds.

Nick Thomas-Symonds, a shadow minister for the opposition Labour Party, said the latest measures would have no impact on the number of people attempting to cross the English Channel.

"(The government) has 173,000 people now who are in the backlog in our asylum system," he told Sky News.