31 July 2023 , 17:19
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An asylum seeker whose hotel was targeted by far-right rioters has warned of the devastating impact of housing migrants on a barge.
Arian, who can't be identified for safety reasons, arrived on British shores in a dinghy seven months ago. He told the Mirror he still has nightmares from his journey and is terrified of going near this sea. A large part of his journey was spent walking through several countries and says he still feels "sick" when he sees trees.
He was one of 35 people on the dinghy, which was carrying women and small children. After being lost for almost 13 hours at sea, Arian says many started praying because no hope was in sight. They thought were going to perish under the waves until another boat rescued them.
Arian has now written to MPs in a bid to stop the Home Office from housing migrants on the Bibby Stockholm, a giant barge, at Dorset Portland's Port. It will house 500 asylum seekers, the move came less than eight hours after Parliament backed the new Illegal Migration Bill earlier this month.
Zarith Hanipah says LGBT support is needed for migrants on bargeArian told the Mirror: "My journey on the dinghy was horrible, we thought it was the end, we thought we were dying. I'm filled with anxiety when I think of the sea, I feel sick when I see trees. How can you put people on a barge, it will create a lot of mental and physical problems.
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"If you put many people who have come from different paths and from different cultures together it will create problems and possibly even violence. They will probably struggle to trust each other. To know there will be no land under your feet will be traumatic.
"There must be a better solution than putting people who have already suffered on a boat. We don’t have anything else to lose why would you put us through more."
Arian knew his life was in danger when he changed his religion. He fled Iran after participating in protests where he was shot with rubber bullets that turned his skin blue. He was then pulled by his hair and kicked by 15 people. Arian says he has now been left with scars from the assault.
The Home Office has housed Arian in a hotel, which had fireworks hurled at it by far-right protesters. He says they were told to stay indoors for their own safety.
Bibby Stockholm will house 500 asylum seekersArian says: "There were a lot of problems, people were getting beaten in the streets. Seven months on and the doors of the hotel are still locked, it makes us look like we're criminals. People have the wrong impression of us, we don't use the gym or spa, we're just in the rooms. I hope the Home Office now finally understands how tough things were for us, but we're still here, the area isn't suitable for refugee people."
Concerns have also been raised about the lack of support for migrants needing LGBTQ+ support on the barge. Asylum seeker Zarith Hanipah, has been in the UK since 2021. He is unable to return to his home country Malaysia because of his sexuality and the politics around his journalistic work.
Zarith, 37, has been living in different temporary accommodation for the last two years. He says the accommodation is so far away from the shops he once had to walk seven hours to collect a prescription.
He told the Mirror: "The Home Office has placed me in temporary accommodation next to an airport highway, it is 40 minutes away from any kind of facilities or shops. I have had to use my own initiative to find LGBT support, I am concerned about what support there will be on the barge.
"Before this, the room I was placed in was also isolated. There was one instance when I had to walk into Manchester to collect a prescription from the pharmacy, it took me seven hours to walk. Someone was going to offer me a lift but when they realised I was an asylum seeker they refused. It was pouring with rain.
"The situation I have been put in has been difficult enough, let alone if it was on a barge, where I imagine there will be people who need LGBT support. It will just cause trauma, it’d be better to be placed inland rather than on a boat causing memories to come back instead of away from civilization."
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Leila Zadeh, CEO of Rainbow Migration charity, says it is risky for LGBTQ+ asylum seekers in large-scale, institutional accommodation centres. She said: "LGTBQ+ people feel extremely unsafe. Just like in a detention centre, homophobic, biphobia and transphobic bullying is rife, and people are at risk of harm. At Napier Barracks people were afraid to even have a shower."
The Home Office says there will be a shuttle bus running every hour, to provide transport for asylum seekers on the barge into Weymouth.
A spokesman from the Home Office says: "The pressure on the asylum system has continued to grow and requires us to look at accommodation options that offer better value for the British taxpayer than expensive hotels. This is why we will be using options such as barges, which are more manageable for communities, as our European neighbours are doing.
"We continue to work closely with Dorset and Portland councils, as well as the local NHS and police services, to manage any impact in Portland and address the local community’s concerns."