Asylum seeker taken off the Bibby Stockholm after discovery of Legionella bug says migrants are being treated ‘less than animals’ with life on board ‘like a prison’ with ‘no freedom’ – and reveals he can’t sleep because he has a ‘fear of water’

•  Migrants were taken off barge last Friday following discovery of bacteria

An asylum seeker taken off the Bibby Stockholm barge has said that it was like ‘a prison’ and accused the government of treating migrants like ‘less than animals’.

The unnamed man also said that he was unable to sleep while onboard due to a ‘fear of water’.

Thirty nine men were evacuated from the barge as a precautionary measure on Friday following the discovery of Legionella bacteria.

The man, who was moved on to the barge on Wednesday, told Sky News that he was worried he would become ill and felt that migrants were being ‘endangered’.

He said that the migrants both drank and bathed in the water onboard.

An asylum seeker who was living aboard the Bibby Stockholm barge has blamed the government for endangering migrants and treating them like ‘less than animals’

A van from Offshore Water Management Ltd on the pier next to the immigration barge

He explained that he was afraid of water, which makes him palpitate because he can’t swim.

Describing the conditions on the Bibby Stockholm, the migrant said there was too much security onboard and that residents had no freedom.

Along with all the men taken off the barge, he is now being housed in a hotel. 

None of the asylum seekers had shown any symptoms of Legionella, the Home Office said.

The outbreak is the subject of conflicting accounts from the government and Dorset Council, who claim that a Home Office staff member was told about the disease was on the barge last Tuesday.

The government denies that the conversation took place, and insists it took action quickly after learning that there were traces of bacteria onboard via a written notification on Wednesday evening.

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