Five days after receiving its first occupantsthe controversial ship Bibby Stockholm – a huge ferry on which the UK plans to accommodate 500 asylum seekers– It had to be evacuated when the presence of a dangerous bacterium was found.
The British Home Office reported this Friday that “environmental samples from the water system in the Bibby Stockholm showed levels of legionella bacteria that require further investigation.”
Spokesmen for this ministry pointed out that “as a precautionary measure, the 39 asylum seekers who arrived on the ship this week are being disembarked while further evaluations are carried out.”
They also indicated that “no person on board presented symptoms of legionellosis”, the disease caused by that bacterium, also known as Legionnaires’ disease.
“Asylum seekers receive appropriate advice and support,” they said, adding that “the health and well-being of the people on the ship is our top priority.”
What is legionella?
It is a bacterium that can develop in humid environments, especially where there is organic material and high temperatures.
By inhaling small droplets of water or vapors contaminated with the bacteria, a person can contract legionellosis or Legionnaires’ disease, a life-threatening lung infection.
The disease, which is not spread from person to person, gets its name from a group of veterans called “American Legion” who was attending a convention at a hotel in Philadelphia, in the United States, where the first case was identified, in 1976.
Since then outbreaks appear every so often, often related to old air conditioning systems in hotels.
The controversial barge
Last Monday, July 7, he boarded the boat, anchored in the port of Portland, in Dorset, in the south of England, the first group of asylum seekers to be housed there.
The British government said the Bibby Stockholm will house around 500 men between the ages of 18 and 65 while they await their asylum claims.
The British Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, decided to fit this huge ferry for this function as part of his plans to reduce accommodation costs for asylum seekers.
As he pointed out, the country currently spends more than US$7 million a day to accommodate more than 50,000 immigrants in hotels.
The number of asylum seekers in the UK increased by 33% between March 2022 and March 2023, with more than 75,000 claims a year, according to the refugee assistance charity Refugee Council.
An Afghan man who was among the first 15 people to board the boat on the first day told the BBC that he had “The feeling of entering Alcatraz prison.”
“My roommate had a panic attack in the middle of the night and felt like he was choking. There are people among us who were given strong medication for depression by the doctor here,” he said.
The man – whom the BBC preferred not to identify – said he was given a small room and the dining room seated fewer than 150 people.
“Like a jail, [la barcaza] it has entrance and exit doors, and in a certain range of hours we have to take a bus that, after a long journey, leaves us in a place where we can walk. We feel very bad,” he said.
According to authorities, the men have buses available to them that take them to Portland or Weymouth between 09:00 and 23:00.. If they do not return to the ship at that time, a “welfare call” will be made to verify that they are okay.
The Bibby Stockholm will have 24-hour onboard security and the men will receive medical attention on board or remotely, they said.
How is the boat?
BBC journalists who took a tour of the Bibby Stockholm before the first occupants arrived said it looked like “an old motel” inside.
“Long, confusing hallways lead to relatively spacious cabins that include a desk, closet, safe, television, and large windows,” Dan Johnson and Michael Sheils McNamee described.
“Each room has a private bathroom with a shower and there are additional facilities on each of the three floors,” they detailed.
Common spaces include a gym, a TV room with a giant screen, and sofasa multi-denominational prayer room and a classroom that can be used for meetings and activities, as well as outdoor recreational space in the two courtyards in the center of the barge.
Although the ferry has 222 cabins, its capacity was increased to 506 by placing berths in each room. Some common areas were also converted into additional dormitories for four or six men, but journalists were not allowed inside.
The use of this barge to house asylum seekers has been criticized by those who consider it the equivalent of a prison.
Nevertheless, some of the journalists who took the tour considered the standard to be better than some of the hotels that currently house asylum seekers in the UK.
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BBC-NEWS-SRC: https://www.bbc.com/mundo/articles/cpezgnze331o, IMPORTING DATE: 2023-08-11 17:30:05
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