ALL ABOARD First of 500 illegal migrants arrive on board Bibby Stockholm barge as Rishi Sunak blasts hotel ‘farce’

THE first illegal migrants have today moved onto the Bibby Stockholm barge - as Rishi Sunak blasted the "farce" of using hotels to house them.

Asylum seekers are gradually being checked into the ship moored in Portland, Dorset, with 500 men eventually expected to live there.

People in hi vis jackets, believed to be workers, were seen entering the barge

It is part of the plan to reduce the crippling £6million-a-day cost of housing illegal arrivals in hotels. 

PM Mr Sunak today promised to end the "farce of illegal migrants being put up in hotels by the taxpayer".

The three-storey barge - as big as a football pitch - has 222 12x12ft ensuite bedrooms to accommodate men aged 18-65, who can enjoy a gym, a cinema room and canteen.

Several asylum seekers were barred from boarding the barge because of a last-ditch wrecking bid from campaigners.

Charity Care4Calais chief executive Steve Smith said: "None of the asylum seekers we are supporting have gone to the Bibby Stockholm today as legal representatives have had their transfers cancelled.

"Amongst our clients are people who are disabled, who have survived torture and modern slavery and who have had traumatic experiences at sea.

"To house any human being in a 'quasi floating prison' like the Bibby Stockholm is inhumane.

"To try and do so with this group of people is unbelievably cruel. Even just receiving the notices is causing them a great deal of anxiety."

Home Office Minister Sarah Dines initially said the government was “hoping” to fill the Bibby Stockholm’s 500-person capacity by the end of the week - but was later said to have "misspoke".

She told the BBC: “We're expecting pretty soon, imminently this week, in the coming days that people will be on the Bibby Stockholm.

"For operational reasons, you wouldn't expect me to confirm the hour or the day but it is pretty soon."

Migrants on the barge will get welcome packs with bathroom essentials, a map and stationary, and can make use of buses and taxis to and from Weymouth.

Ms Dines insisted illegal asylum seekers would not be living in luxury despite the range of offerings on the vessel.

She said: “Luxurious hotel accommodation has been part of the pull, I'm afraid.

“There have been promises made abroad by the organised criminal gangs and organisations which have tried to get people into the country unlawfully and they say, ''You will be staying in a very nice hotel in the middle of a town in England''.

She said migrants “can’t expect to stay in a four-star hotel”. 

Labour yesterday admitted it would house Channel migrants in barges and converted Army bases — despite moaning about the plans for months.

Labour’s Shadow Immigration Minister Stephen Kinnock said: “The reality is that we’ve got tens of thousands of people in hotels.

“We need to get them out of hotels and we need to get them off the barges and out of the military camps too.

“But because of the complete and utter chaos and shambles of the Tory asylum crisis, we are going to have to continue in a very short-term period to use the infrastructure that is there — including the barges and the hotels.”

Rishi Sunak is still committed to sending migrants to Rwanda to deter small boat arrivals crossing the Channel.

A crunch Supreme Court battle against campaigners and lawyers is set for the autumn.

The barge is equipped with a restaurant which will provide hot meals