UK to close migrant barge amid Labour govt asylum overhaul
China DailyPeople, believed to be asylum seekers, arrive to be housed on the Bibby Stockholm accommodation barge at Portland Port, Portland near Weymouth in Britain on Oct 19. LONDON -- The contract for the Bibby Stockholm barge, which has been used by the previous Conservative-led government to house asylum seekers off the coast of Dorset in southwestern England, will not be renewed from the end of January 2025 as part of the Labour government's overhaul of the asylum system. Ending the use of the Bibby Stockholm forms part of the expected 7.7 billion pounds of savings in asylum costs over the next 10 years, the Home Office claimed. The three-storey barge to house asylum seekers began to be put into use in August 2023, despite opposition from lawmakers and human rights groups.