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After weeks of local strife and national buildup, the sparsely filled coaches entering the Dorset port where the Bibby Stockholm is moored were a boost to pro-refugee demonstrators.
“Should we cheer just in case?” asked Heather, a local campaigner and member of Stand Up to Racism Dorset as a fifth, seemingly empty, coach drove into the port.
About 50 refugee supporters were outside to welcome asylum seekers arriving at the Bibby Stockholm, a barge where up to 500 could be housed despite concerns about onboard disease outbreak and fire safety. “It was a really good mood. It just filled your heart that so many people came out to support them and that there are members of the community that do care and do welcome them,” said Heather.
At about 4pm, demonstrators outside the port claimed that 15 asylum seekers were onboard the Bibby Stockholm. One local campaigner who was in contact with an asylum seeker on the barge said they had decided against seeking legal help at the last minute after receiving advice that their asylum claim would be processed quicker if they went onboard.
The arrival of the Bibby Stockholm into Portland has sparked a fierce local backlash. The barge’s opponents, however, are divided in their reasons against it.
Pro-refugee groups Stand Up to Racism and the Portland Global Friendship Group say ministers and the far right are whipping up hostility, while the No to the Barge group says women and children would be in physical danger from the asylum seekers.
“It’s incredibly divisive,” said Heather. “We are such a deprived and poor area. There are not enough jobs, there’s a high reliance on food banks, our medical services are a joke, our hospitals have been defunded. There’s just real anger from local people.
“There’s a lot of people who are anti-asylum seeker. The far right have been really trying to mobilise here but there are also people who want to support and welcome them. I would say it’s a 50:50 divide.”
Despite the local tensions and national coverage of the barge, pro-refugee demonstrators far outnumbered the anti-refugee ones. Disagreements were mostly cordial, especially compared with protests outside the port last month.
In one exchange, filmed by a reporter from DorsetLive, two protesters on differing sides had a back and forth about welcome packs organised by local campaigners. One argued they should be given out to homeless and vulnerable local residents, while the other stressed the need to show refugees compassion.
“When I was getting donations for the welcome packs people were coming to my house and saying, ‘please don’t tell anyone that I’m giving donations’,” said Heather.
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Heather’s involvement with local anti-racism groups has been recent. “Until this happened I never knew this world existed,” she said. “I got involved with Stand Up to Racism because of the barge.”
Tony Walter, 74, has been at the occasional protest throughout his life but his involvement in Stand Up to Racism only began when the Bibby Stockholm arrived into Portland. “They’re coming so we’ve got to do our best to for them and with them,” he said. “I know a lot of them. A lot of them will be quite highly skilled people and will have a lot to offer our community.”
Walter is concerned about the long-term impact of housing asylum seekers in this manner. “A barge doesn’t seem a great idea. Some of them were quite traumatised by being on small boats. Many of them won’t be able to swim. You can guess how they’ll feel about being in a confined environment that could be a firetrap on water. It kind of seems like a way of retraumatising people.
“I know people who are asylum seekers who have been triply traumatised. First by what happened in their own country which meant they had to leave, then by their journey through to Europe, and thirdly, traumatised by our whole asylum system here.”
Heather said: “I think we should be processing asylum seekers more quickly and efficiently. It’s become even more concerning in the last week because of the fire safety concerns.
“It just shows how much the government don’t value these people as human beings.”
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