Britain's New Prison Ships

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The absolute irony of British people being concerned about tax payer money going to the "luxurious lifestyle" of strangers they've never met.

To rent three of these prison Hulks is costing us £1.6 billion, for that amount of money you could build and outright own the largest Cruise ship ever built the Royal Caribbean Icon Of The Seas with capacity for 7,600 passengers living in luxury and 2,350 crew, with 20 restaurants, pools, a threatre, the largest water park at sea etc. Not 1,500 in conditions deemed as unsafe by the fire department. This is not done for saving money in the slightest, I can garentuee the owner of those barges has donated to the Tory party.

One of the worst aspects of this, is that no one voted for it. The Tories calling “Stop The Boats” as one of “Your Priorities” despite the fact Sunak wasn’t even democratically elected is a travesty

I remember as a young adult thinking that things would get better for everyone with the passing of time. But I was obviously naive. The world is in fact getting worse for the poor and those seeking out a better life for themselves and their children. So much for progress.

New rule: If your idea for solving a problem can serve as the plot for a dystopian novel or horror story with minimal exaggeration, ERASE YOUR WHITEBOARD AND START OVER.

As a student in the university of Galway the fact that ship was considered for student accommodation doesn't surprise me at all 😂

As an ameican i had no idea about these politics in england thank u for explaining it so non natives can fully understand these internitional issues. Well done

gosh, the statistic of people waiting for the responce from the UK government gave flashbacks of my family waiting more then 3 month with no legal way to gain some money in Poland during spring 2022. Well, at least we have found some truly generous people who have helped us.

As an Australian whose ancestor was held on a hulk before being transported this feels like things have come full circle.

I used to live in Hamburg until 2011, and I remember very well the massive public opposition against these inhumane "housing" ships on the Elbe river that eventually led to their removal in 2006. My cleaning lady at the time, a refugee from Armenia, had been living on Bibi Stockholm's sister ship, Bibbi Altona, when she first arrived. Her account of the living conditions there were vivid and horrifying. She was eventually moved to an apartment, but only after two of her children became chronically ill. I'm shocked to see the ships put back in use in the UK for the very same reasons the city of Hamburg got rid of them.

Will never cease to trouble me how we are almost entirely responsablible for ruining the countries these people come from and yet we treat them like criminals for simply not wanting to live in a war zone and desiring a slightly better life

Strange. I remember prison boats being the exact same reason why the British government began sending them to America instead pre-1770. We know how that turned out

New York City has an actual jail barge, Vernon C. Bain Correctional Center, opened in 1992. It houses 870 incarcerated people in large rooms of ~60 with communal bedding. As this is a jail, none of it's inhabitants have been convicted yet. It actually closed this month, but it was parked across from Rikers, in the Bronx, for the last 30 years. Valuable to think through as a supplement to this topic.

Just to add making it illegal to claim aslyum if you have entered the country without announcement. Is most useful to human traffickers as victims will not go to the government for help. As the government would treat them as a criminal and afford no protections for being trafficked. A genuinely horrifying dilemma.

My father came into the United States around 1930. He arrived at Ellis Island and they processed most immigrants on the day that they arrived. OK, half of the paperwork could be performed onboard ship before it arrives in New York. A simple clerk checked off the boxes, and if you passed you were given a Green Card and your were in. Today, there will be international computer checks before all of the boxes can be checked. Probably need a much higher level official doing what is essentially a clerk's job.

This young man narrating is just ADORABLE. I just wanna be like, "Grab your British accent and get in my pocket, you're coming with me".

“stop the boats” is a long standing motto of the conservatives in australia, and you’ll recall we have a prison island of our own (ironic)

I worked on a small passenger ferry in the US and I would like to share some thoughts. This is a terrible idea. The amount of labor and money it takes to maintain a ferry that can only hold 400 passengers for about 15 minutes would be minuscule compared to the amount of resources it would take to house that many people. We are constantly cleaning and maintaining the vessel. Plus we are regularly doing safety drills and practicing for emergencies. I would be terrified even have a MOB when there are people who may not speak the same language. On a boat it is incredibly important for everyone to be able to communicate to avoid people dying.

"Come, hell or high water?" "Why not both?"