London, Thanasis Gavos

In a floating facilitythe with accommodation rising to three floors decided to place the British government hundreds of refugees and migrants who are on British soil having applied for asylum.

The massive houseboat is called the Bibby Stockholm and will be moored in the port of Portland, County Dorset in SW England.

As announced by the Ministry of the Interior, this floating apartment building can accommodate up to 222 rooms 506 men who are in the asylum process and do not have dependent family members with them, while their applications are being processed. The initial design says that the floating installation will be used for at least 18 months.

The announcement spoke of accommodation with “basic” facilities, with provision of health care and food for those who will live there, as well as constant guarding.

The government’s aim is to reduce the high cost of hospitality asylum seekers in hotels and make traveling to Britain through illegal routes less attractive.

Today the government pays around £6m a day to hotels, while the daily cost of hosting refugees and migrants on the floating platform is estimated at around £20,000.

The plan, however, has been heavily criticized by human rights groups who condemn the “cruelty of confining” hundreds of vulnerable people to a facility in the sea. The accommodation on this floating platform has been renovated as it was criticized as an unacceptable living environment when used for a similar purpose in the Netherlands.

Also, the local MP and local council, who happen to be from the ruling Conservative Party, are against the measure and are threatening legal action.

The transfer of the men to the specific floating accommodation will take place in the coming months, while it will be decided in time to use more similar boats to accommodate asylum seekers.

The Conservative government has also said that new arrivals of refugees and migrants will be taken to Rwanda to process asylum claims there.