Migrants moved off Dorset barge due to Legionella risk
39 people have been removed from the Bibby Stockholm at Portland
Last updated 11th Aug 2023
All 39 asylum seekers who were moved onto the Bibby Stockholm barge off Dorset have been taken off the vessel this afternoon (Friday 11th August).
It's after Legionella bacteria has been found in the water.
No migrants have fallen sick or developed Legionnaires' disease, which is a serious type of pneumonia.
The lung infection has symptoms including pain in the chest - particularly when breathing - as well as a cough and high temperature.
A Home Office spokesperson said the people on board have been moved off as a 'precautionary measure':
"The health and welfare of individuals on the vessel is our utmost priority. Environmental samples from the water system on the Bibby Stockholm have shown levels of legionella bacteria which require further investigation.
"Following these results, the Home Office has been working closely with UKHSA UK Health Security Agency and following its advice in line with long established public health processes, and ensuring all protocol from Dorset Council's environmental health team and Dorset NHS is adhered to.
"As a precautionary measure, all 39 asylum seekers who arrived on the vessel this week are being disembarked while further assessments are undertaken.
"No individuals on board have presented with symptoms of Legionnaires', and asylum seekers are being provided with appropriate advice and support."
There's also reassurance that there's no wider risk to people living locally.
The Home Office statement continued:
"The samples taken relate only to the water system on the vessel itself and therefore carry no direct risk indication for the wider community of Portland nor do they relate to fresh water entering the vessel.
"Legionnaires' disease does not spread from person to person."
Asylum seekers only started moving onto the barge on Monday (7th August), with the first 15 arriving.
Around 20 were granted a last-minute reprieve after a series of legal challenges.
The Fire Brigades Union raised safety concerns before the migrants starting moving on board.
Now general secretary Ben Selby has said:
"The Fire Brigades Union warned the Home Secretary that forcibly holding migrants on this barge was a huge health and safety risk.
"We wrote to Suella Braverman more than a week ago to demand a meeting to discuss these issues. We have had no response that letter, and our fire safety and operational safety concerns remain.
"It remains our professional view that it's a potential death trap and an accident waiting to happen. However, Suella Braverman and her ministerial colleagues are hellbent on confining vulnerable people in jail-like conditions on what is effectively a prison ship.
"This outbreak of Legionella suggests that it's only a matter of time before either lives are lost or there is serious harm to a detainee."
A Dorset Council spokesperson said:
"Dorset Council's environmental health team and Public Health Dorset are advising the Home Office and its contractors, alongside the UK Health Security Agency and NHS Dorset, following notification of positive samples of Legionella bacteria in the water system on the Bibby Stockholm barge.
"No individuals have presented symptoms of Legionnaires' disease, and there is no health risk to the wider community of Portland."
It is understood that the Home Office is managing the search for alternative accommodation for the asylum seekers.