The Home Office plans to house asylum seekers in 10 unused cruise ships, ferries and barges in ports around the country, The Guardian reported.
Officials have been told to look at “all options” to find housing for asylum seekers dealing with processing delays. This includes former military camps and prisons.
In December, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said that the government expected to abolish the backlog of initial asylum decisions “by the end of next year.”
This means the Home Office would need to make nearly 25,000 decisions a quarter to meet this promise.
The Home Office is also launching a three-day hackathon in May to search for quicker ways to reduce the asylum backlog. The Home Office also plans to use artificial intelligence to process the 138,052 undecided asylum cases, The Guardian reported.
The UK has also been working on an illegal migration bill, which would enable the detention of unlawful arrivals without bail or judicial review within the first 28 days of detention until they can be removed. It includes provisions to prevent asylum seekers from claiming to be a victim of modern slavery to avoid or delay their removal.
On 27 March, in a letter addressed to both chambers of the UK parliament, the Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Human Rights, Dunja Mijatovic, urged lawmakers to vote against the bill.
(Sofia Stuart Leeson | EURACTIV.com)
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