In the damp December cold, a blue bus stops near Weymouth town centre in south-west England. A few men get off, relieved to be spending a few hours away from what they call their “prison” – a barge housing asylum seekers.
Hasan James, a 38-year-old Nigerian, is one of about 200 migrants staying on the Bibby Stockholm in the port of Portland, 20 minutes’ drive from Weymouth on the Dorset coast.
“We have limited mobility. It is just like prison security,” James, wrapped in a warm parka jacket and hat, said of the controversial accommodation, detailing its detection scanners and searches.
Before the UK authorities sent him to the facility a month ago, James, who arrived in Britain on a now-expired tourist visa, was living in a hotel in London.…