Very controversial, the migrant barge will be able to accommodate nearly 500 men who entered British territory illegally while awaiting their deportation.
In Portland in the United Kingdom, the floating center for migrants, promised by the government, should soon welcome its very first “passengers”.
The barge should have entered service earlier, but work to bring it into compliance against the risk of fires has delayed its opening date.
The highly controversial accommodation is supposed to temporarily house around 500 single men, aged 18 to 65, to ease pressure on the UK asylum system.
The floating center is part of an unprecedented toughening of immigration policy in the UK as nearly 45,000 people crossed the Channel illegally to reach Britain last year.
The new UK law aims to discourage such travel and prevent migrants from seeking asylum in the UK if they arrive illegally. Those caught red-handed will be sent back to their country of origin or deported to another safe country, and they will be prohibited from returning to the UK.
The government planned to send some of those arriving without permission to Rwanda, but last month the Court of Appeal ruled the move illegal. The government appealed this decision to the UK Supreme Court.
This article is originally published on fr.euronews.com