Biddy Stockton: Migrants leave Dorset barge after Legionella outbreak | UK News

Asylum seekers have been forced to evacuate from the Bibby Stockholm barge in Dorset and placed in alternative accommodation after traces of Legionella bacteria were found in the water supply.

All 39 of those who arrived on the vessel, docked this week have disembarked as a ‘precautionary measure’, the Home Office has confirmed.

The Legionella bacteria can cause Legionnaires disease – a type of pneumonia.

So far none of the people on board the vessel have tested positive for the disease, although it can take up to 16 days for symptoms to start showing.

The disembarkment comes only four days after the first 15 asylum seekers boarded the barge, and has heaped more pressure on home secretary Suella Braverman to abandon the controversial asylum scheme.

Ministers have said they were concerned contractors were aware of the Legionalla outbreak as early as Monday, while Home Office officials have insisted they were not told of the hazard until further tests were made.

It is understood the government allowed a further six migrants to board the barge on Thursday even after being informed of the bacteria by Dorset Council the day before.

Professor Paul Hunter told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme it was possible that asylum seekers had been exposed to the bacteria if they had a shower on the vessel, adding it was ‘very concerning’ that checks did not appear to have been established beforehand.

Asked whether it would have been an ‘obvious thing’ to test for, Prof Hunter said: ‘Absolutely.’

He added: ‘Certainly if we… had had a (hospital) ward that had not been open for a number of weeks and the water was still in the pipes, we would check that before we actually started moving patients into that ward, and this didn’t seem to happen. This is very concerning.’

The professor said when people take a shower, it can generate a mist of Legionella bacteria which can be breathed in, although the Home Office has said no one on board the Bibby became ill.

Asked whether it was possible that there was exposure on board, Prof Hunter said: ‘Yes. The thing is, if you’re young and healthy you might not actually get any symptoms at all. But if you’ve got a pre-existing lung disease, if you’re a smoker, then it can be very severe.’

Senior Conservative MP David Davis said the Bibby Stockholm evacuation has revealed the ‘startling incompetence of the Home Office itself’.

Speaking on Radio 4, the former Brexit secretary said: ‘The primary thing that’s been revealed has been the startling incompetence of the Home Office itself.

‘Rather famously many years ago, John Reid, when he took over as home secretary, talked about it being not fit for purpose, and I’m afraid you’re seeing that here.

‘It’s really, really hard to understand how, at all layers, this could not be caught early’.

Steve Smith, chief executive of charity Care4Calais, said: ‘We have always known our concerns over the health and safety of the barge are justified, and this latest mismanagement proves our point.

‘The Bibby Stockholm is a visual illustration of this Government’s hostile environment against refugees, but it has also fast become a symbol for the shambolic incompetence which has broken Britain’s asylum system.’

With a capacity of more than 500, the Government hopes that the use of the Bibby Stockholm, together with former military bases, will reduce the amount it spends on providing accommodation to refugees.

Around 50 people had been expected to move on to the giant vessel but around 20 were granted a last-minute reprieve after a series of legal challenges.

According to Sky News, immigration minister Robert Jenrick is understood to be chairing meetings about the situation.

A Home Office spokesperson said: ‘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, Fire Brigades Union assistant general secretary Ben Selby said their fire and safety and operational safety concerns onboard the vessel, which he branded a ‘potential death trap’, remain.

It comes as 755 people were recorded crossing the English Channel in small boats on Thursday, the highest daily number so far this year, confirming the cumulative total since 2018 has passed 100,000.

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