UK government under pressure over refugee barge after legionella found

UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman is facing mounting pressure to abandon the controversial plan of housing asylum-seekers on a barge following the discovery of legionella bacteria on the vessel, the Guardian reported on Saturday.

This comes as ministers raise their concerns that contractors knew there were traces of the bacteria on the Bibby Stockholm on Monday when the first asylum-seekers boarded the vessel, which is moored in Portland port, Dorset.

Home Office sources said tests for legionella were conducted on July 25, with lower levels of traces identified on Monday when the first asylum-seekers boarded the barge.

Carralyn Parkes, the mayor of Portland, expressed astonishment that a routine check, conducted by councils daily, was not carried out promptly.

“I am shocked and horrified by the incompetence of this government. We were told that all of these checks had been done,” she told the Guardian.

Parkes added: “Portland town council has to do legionnaires’ disease checks on public lavatories and we do that competently. And yet the Home Office, which is supposed to be helping to run the country, has failed to complete basic checks.”

Shadow Immigration Minister Stephen Kinnock described the lack of proper checks as “extraordinary.”

“It’s absolutely right that the barge has to be evacuated, but what a complete and utter shambles. This is a catalog of catastrophe, and government ministers should hang their heads in shame,” he told Sky News.

The Home Office first learned about the early traces on Wednesday, but still sent another six people on to the barge the following day, sources confirmed to the Guardian.

However, after consulting with the UK Health Security Agency, these individuals were removed later that evening, and all others were evacuated on Friday.

Legionnaires’ disease can be contracted if individuals inhale small droplets of water containing the bacteria, leading to lung infections.

None of the asylum-seekers on the barge have tested positive for the disease so far, but it can take up to 16 days for symptoms to appear.

A leaked Home Office letter, obtained by the Guardian, reveals that asylum-seekers have been informed that they will be tested if they show symptoms such as dry coughs, confusion and diarrhea.

The Home Office clarified that environmental samples from the water system on the Bibby Stockholm indicated the presence of legionella bacteria, necessitating further investigation.

A Home Office spokesperson told the Guardian: “The health and welfare of asylum-seekers remains of the utmost priority. All asylum-seekers accommodated on the Bibby Stockholm have now been disembarked as a precaution and moved to alternative accommodation.

“The Home Office and our contractors are following all protocol and advice from Dorset council’s environmental health team, UK Health Security Agency and Dorset NHS who we are working closely with.”

Meanwhile, the Home Office said that the samples related only to the water system on the barge and there was no health risk to the wider Portland community.

Fire Brigades Union Assistant General Secretary Ben Selby said the government had ignored its concerns over health and safety.

“The Fire Brigades Union warned the home secretary that forcibly holding migrants on this barge was a huge health and safety risk,” Selby told the Guardian.

“We wrote to Suella Braverman more than a week ago to demand a meeting to discuss these issues. We have had no response to that letter,” he said.

Nicola David from the NGO One Life to Live, which conducted research highlighting the unsuitability of the barge for housing asylum-seekers, emphasized the need for urgent answers from the government, holding ministers ultimately responsible.

David told the Guardian: “There are too many private companies involved in the barge deal and they are not experienced in providing accommodation for asylum-seekers.

“Tragically, today the asylum-seekers were the last to know about what was going on. This was Suella Braverman’s baby, but when she should be answering questions about what went wrong, she is nowhere to be seen.”

The Home Office is reportedly looking for alternative accommodation for the asylum-seekers.