TWO asylum seekers living on board the Bibby Stockholm have been arrested following reports of sexual assault at a Weymouth nightclub.
Police received a report that a woman was sexually assaulted in Kika Beach on the Esplanade in Weymouth at 3.10am on Sunday, December 10.
Police say 'two men, aged 24 and 27, from Portland, were arrested on suspicion of sexual assault'.
They have been released on police bail while enquiries continue.
An investigation has been launched by detectives.
A spokesperson for Dorset Police said: "Dorset Police received a report at 3.10am on Sunday, December 10, that a woman was sexually assaulted in Kika Beach on The Esplanade in Weymouth.
"Officers attended and two men, aged 24 and 27, from Portland were arrested on suspicion of sexual assault.
"They have been released on police bail while enquiries continue. An investigation is underway by detectives and we are continuing to support the victim as our enquiries continue."
The asylum seekers returned to the Bibby Stockholm at Portland Port on October 19 after being moved away for two months after Legionella bacteria, the bacteria which can cause the potentially fatal Legionnaires’ disease, was found in the water supply.
The barge is not yet at full capacity and will eventually house around 500 asylum seekers in around 200 bedrooms.
On Tuesday, December 12, one of the asylum seekers took their own life, it is understood.
Now it has emerged that the dead man was named as Leonard Farruku, a 27-year-old from Albania.
The plan has attracted considerable opposition, prompting legal challenges and protests, with campaigners branding it cruel and inhumane.
Other campaigners have campaigned against housing asylum seekers on the barge without any consultation with local people and questioned the pressures on local infrastructure.
More than £22 million of taxpayers’ money is being spent on the Bibby Stockholm asylum accommodation barge, the Home Office’s top official has said.
In a letter to MPs, Home Office permanent secretary Sir Matthew Rycroft said the “vessel accommodation services” portion of the contract with CTM, which relates to the barge, was £22,450,772.
He said the assessment of whether the vessel offered value for money was “currently being updated”.
Immigration delivery minister Tom Pursglove said the cost was “undoubtedly” cheaper than housing asylum seekers in hotels.
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