Cruise ships will take migrants from the English Channel

The Bibby Stockholm barge is being refitted to accommodate migrants before being towed to Portland. for the first time to accommodate two cruise ships, as well as a barge.

The two ships, announced by Rishi Sunak on Monday, have been ordered by the government to accommodate 1,000 migrants. These are the ships that have been cruising. The places where they will stand have not yet been disclosed.

This is the first time such vessels have been used for migrants from the English Channel. Earlier, the Scottish government placed 2,000 Ukrainian refugees fleeing a Russian attack on two derelict liners on the River Clyde in Glasgow and Leith in Edinburgh.

Dorset Council cleared the way for the Home Office on Tuesday. with her plans to moor a barge for 500 migrants in Portland harbor, Dorset after she dropped the threat of legal action.

It said they were doing this because they were unlikely to win and incur «high costs» for the county's taxpayers.

“We are committed to working with the Home Office and our partners to ensure there is minimal impact on public services for local residents, and that provision to asylum seekers is adequately resourced and efficient,” the council said in a statement.

However, military leaders have expressed concern over plans to dock a barge next to a Royal Navy ship where Special Forces soldiers train.

The barge, called Bibby Stockholm, is to be towed to Portland. harbor for the next two weeks, where it is to remain for the next 18 months.

Potential «security breach»

However, the safe port where no public is allowed without permission is also home to Sir Tristram, a logistics landing ship converted into a special forces training ship after participating in the Falklands War.

“The Special Boat Service (SBS) and the police are using the vessel to train specialists, and they are concerned about how this will happen,” said a senior local source.

“They are worried that migrants might start taking pictures. What the migrants see could be a security breach.”

The Home Office also plans to house 3,000 migrants in two former RAF camps, Scampton in Lincolnshire and Wethersfield in Essex. Both are the subject of legal action by the local councils in the Court of Appeal on June 12, and then in the High Court on July 12 and 13, when they will seek permission to judicially review the plans.

Meanwhile, the Prison Inspectorate warned that Manston, the main processing center for Channel migrants, could see repeated outbreaks of diseases such as diphtheria and unrest if there is a surge in small boat crossings this summer.

Mr Sunak said on Monday that his boat stop campaign is starting to work as the number of migrants crossing the English Channel is down 20% this year compared to 2022.