Dorset migrant barge: Archbishop of Canterbury urges government to suspend plan

The Archbishop of Canterbury has urged the government to delay the arrival of a migrant barge off the Dorset coast.

The vessel is expected to arrive this month and will house 500 "single adult males" for processing and possible removal from the UK.

Speaking in Portland, where he met community leaders, the Most Reverend Justin Welby said he wanted the scheme to be paused for further consultation.

The Home Office said using "expensive hotels" for asylum seekers "must end".

Last month, protesters held a rally opposing the arrival of the barge.

About 100 demonstrators marched to Portland Port, where the government-commissioned vessel - Bibby Stockholm - is contracted to be berthed for 18 months initially.

The organisers, campaign group Stand Up To Racism, said the government plans were "inhumane".

The archbishop told the BBC it was "very clear" from a breakfast meeting with more than 100 community leaders from across the area that there had been "little or no consultation - very inadequate consultation - with local people".

He added: "They haven't got the buy-in from the community."

Describing the British people as "deeply hospitable, welcoming, generous and compassionate", he said: "But they can't be expected to be when this is just done to them - not with them - that is the biggest problem."

In a statement, the Home Office said: "The use of expensive hotels to house asylum seekers crossing the Channel is unacceptable, and must end. Alternative accommodation options, including barges, will save the British taxpayer money.

"We will continue to meet our legal obligations and responsibilities to those being accommodated on the barge, as we do for asylum seekers living in other accommodation, subject to the safety requirements placed on all visitors to Portland Port."

The archbishop said there was a backlog of up to 60,000 cases and argued the biggest way to make a change was by "catching up with that backlog".

He added: "In an ideal world, they [the government] would suspend the relocation of the barge here while a task group was put together from the Home Office to come and listen to local people and work with local people until a point where everything was in place and concerns had adequately been dealt with."

Asked if he was calling for that, he replied: "Yes, I think I am."

"This is about human dignity, and not just that of the refugees and asylum seekers - that is absolutely essential - it's the human dignity of these communities in which they are going to be."

The archbishop said it would put a strain on already stretched voluntary groups in the area.

"It's taking people for granted, it's not good enough," he said.

He said he did not object to the principle of asylum seekers being held on a barge but said it should be done in a way that is "just and fair" to the asylum seekers and local communities.

"I've seldom heard a local community so united on this issue," he added.

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