Bibby Stockholm asylum seeker still fears for life

Cedrick left the Bibby Stockholm asylum barge in October 2024 and is now living in Portsmouth

An asylum seeker who was moved off the controversial Bibby Stockholm barge a year ago has said he "will get killed" if he is forced to return to Cameroon.

The last residents left the vessel, which was berthed at Portland Port in Dorset, in November. It housed about 500 men awaiting the outcome of their asylum applications.

Cedrick, has since had his application declined and the 34-year-old now lives in Portsmouth, in a house of multiple occupancy (HMO) with other asylum seekers while he appeals against the decision.

A Home Office spokesperson said: "The proportion of asylum claims receiving an initial decision within six months is at the highest level since 2018."

The Bibby Stockholm was used to accommodate hundreds of asylum seekers while their applications were processed.

It shut in November and left Portland in January after the contract between the Home Office and the port expired.

Cedrick flew to Heathrow in March 2024 and applied for asylum, saying at the time he had "been persecuted", his life was in danger, and his parents had been attacked.

• Barge resident keen to start 'second chance at life'

He lived on the barge for seven months before he received a letter from the Home Office telling him he would be housed in Portsmouth.

The Bibby Stockholm was towed out of Portland Port in January

Cedrick said he was keen to start a new life away from the barge, but his current circumstances were not what he imagined.

He said his asylum application had been declined because there was "not enough evidence to prove that his life was in danger".

In December, he appealed against the decision with additional evidence, including WhatsApp messages threatening to kill him and his daughter.

One reads: "We will get you and you must die."

Another said: "That little daughter of yours will suffer a painful death."

Cedrick said he was making an appeal "because I am a genuine asylum seeker, I am fleeing persecution, and I will get killed if I go back to my country".

"I'm sorry to say but I don't have a plan if I don't get the outcome I want at the court hearing in March. I am just trying to stay positive," he added.

Cedrick spoke to BBC reporter Sophie Cridland in his new home city of Portsmouth

It has been more than a year since Cedrick had contact with his family, but he said he believed they were still live in Cameroon.

"I wasn't able to bring them with me to the UK and I feel like a very bad person," he said.

A near-decade-long conflict in the country has led to thousands of deaths.

Militants are fighting for the independence of Cameroon's two anglophone regions, in what is a predominantly francophone country.

To date, five million anglophone Cameroonians have been dragged into the conflict - equivalent to one-fifth of the total population.

At least 6,000 people have been killed and hundreds of thousands forced from their homes.

If Cedrick's asylum application is approved and his family are still alive, he wants to bring to them to the UK.

"I am hoping they are safe somewhere. I feel empty inside," he said.

"I don't know if they have been taken by the militia or the military.

"Sometimes I can't really process everything especially when I am stuck up in the house and I am thinking and sometimes I even go into depression."

Once a week Cedrick has therapy and he is also on anti-depressants.

Cedrick is now living in a seven-bedroom property in Portsmouth with people of different nationalities.

"You don't get a choice, so when the Home Office gives you a location and accommodation you go," he said.

"If you decline the offer, you might find yourself on the streets being homeless."

The Home Office provides an asylum seeker with a weekly allowance of £49.18 to cover food, clothing, and toiletries.

If they live in catered accommodation, like the Bibby Stockholm, they are given £8.86 a week.

Unlike at the HMO, Cedrick said the asylum seekers could not leave the vessel as and when they wanted to.

He said: "You didn't really get to express your freedom on the barge because it had a prison-like setting with the tall fence and the barbed wire.

"But, out here you get to see different people and meet people from different cultural backgrounds.

"I was very happy to start a new life, to get a new place and not just being stuck and seeing the same faces every day.

"Also being able to cook your own meal. I feel very happy."

A Home Office spokesperson did not comment on Cedrick's case, but added: "Asylum decisions and interviews are underpinned by a robust quality assurance process.

"This ensures claims are properly considered, decisions are sound and protection is granted to those who genuinely need it."

In August anti-immigration protesters waved Union and England flags in Southsea

Over the summer, a number of anti-immigration and counter protests were held in Portsmouth.

The organisers, Portsmouth Patriots, said the group opposes "illegal migrant hotels" in the city.

Speaking about the protests Cedrick said: "Every asylum seeker has a story, and amongst those, you have genuine ones who flee persecution.

"I do understand that people don't want mass illegal immigration coming from the boats.

"The real issue is when an asylum seeker comes in and is unable to understand English values or the UK's values and unable to assimilate into the system."

Back in Cameroon, Cedrick was a teacher and in Portsmouth he volunteers to teach other migrants English and also helps at a charity shop.

"Like Shaba Mahmood, the new Home Secretary said, we need to get involved in volunteering, getting actively involved in our community or local area," he said.

"I start volunteering at 10:00 BST and finish at 17:00 every day with the Red Cross.

"I think if I get my asylum claim I should be able to get a job as a teacher."