The first asylum seekers to be housed on Bibby Stockholm, a floating barge on the south coast of England, have boarded the vessel.

Around 50 people were expected to move on to the vessel, docked in Portland in Dorset, on Monday following weeks of delays.

Footage from inside showed an airport-style security scanner and long ferry-like corridors, a television room with armchairs and a canteen.

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Last year, over 45,000 migrants landed on England's southern coast – up 500 percent in the last two years – and 51,000 migrants are currently being accommodated in hotels at a cost of $7.71 million per day. Almost 15,000 asylum seekers have arrived in the country so far in 2023.

Some residents of Portland are opposed to the UK government's plan to house hundreds of asylum seekers on the large barge in its harbor. 

From a vantage point at the top of this small town of 13,000 inhabitants, the 93-meter-long Bibby Stockholm can be seen below. With its 222 cabins, it is supposed to house up to 500 asylum seekers over the next few months. 

Sending asylum seekers to docked barges is one of the plan's highly symbolic ideas, aimed at saving money on housing asylum seekers while acting as a deterrent. 

'A floating prison'

In Portland, there is a palpable hostility between those who cite the risks to the safety of local residents and others who denounce a "floating prison."

When Heather, a 33-year-old resident involved in an anti-racism group, showed journalists the packs her organization had prepared for asylum seekers, she was insulted by a motorist while another woman held up a "Stop the Invasion" sign. 

"It's always like that now", said Heather, who decided to join the local branch of Stand Up To Racism because "when the barge was announced, I was really shocked by all the hate going around. There were people saying 'they're going to commit crimes, they're going to rape your children, your children won’t be safe' – I was really upset."

"Refugees have become such a divisive topic on a local and national scale," said 53-year-old Portland resident Richard Hatfield, who is also opposed to what he describes as a "floating prison."

The government is using refugees "to divide us," he claimed. The Conservative government, struggling in the polls a year before the general election, has hardened its rhetoric and promised to end illegal crossings of the English Channel, with little success so far. 

A new law that came into force in July, denounced by the UN, now prohibits migrants who have made the perilous crossing from applying for asylum in the UK. 

'A secret deal'

The UK also wants to reduce the cost of hotel accommodation for asylum seekers, which amounts to $2.9 billion per year. It instead wants to use facilities such as disused military bases, quayside barges and even tents.

But Portland is the only port in the country to have so far agreed to moor such a barge, with similar projects abandoned due to difficulty finding places for them to dock. 

"There was no consultation, no consideration and no consent," Alex Bailey, a local resident said, criticizing a "secret deal" between the port and the government.

Firmly opposed to the project, he and others have set up a Facebook group called "No to the barge," where members share their anger at migrants and the government. 

The Bibby Stockholm is another example of the government's difficulties in delivering its plans to house asylum seekers away from hotels. 

In the north of England, a project to house 2,000 asylum seekers in a disused military base was postponed last week due to a lack of qualified staff to manage the water, gas and electricity on site.

A similar project in the village of Linton-on-Ouse, north England, also ended in failure last year after a massive backlash from local residents.

Another totemic and controversial project – sending illegal migrants, wherever they come from, to Rwanda – is currently stuck in the courts.

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