Residents who stopped 1,000 asylum seekers from being housed on a “prison ship” in the north of England say the government has misjudged the British public with its draconian immigration laws.
Teessiders were spurred to act in June, after it was reported that ministers were seeking to house asylum seekers on a cruise ship moored in Teesport, near Middlesbrough.
Feeling this “would cause significant harm to people fleeing war and persecution”, more than 200 locals and dozens of charities signed a letter asking the port operator, PD Ports, “not to take any part in plans to create a floating prison on the Tyne”.
