'Learn lessons of the past' – campaigner against 1980s prison ship for refugees warns government not to repeat mistake
Labour MPs Diane Abbott, Harry Cohen and Jeremy Corbyn join hunger-striking refugees aboard the British government immigrant detention prison ship, the Earl William at the port of Harwich, Essex
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A COMMUNITY leader who campaigned for the closure of a prison ship for asylum-seekers in the 1980s urged the government today to learn the lessons of the past.
Ministers are giving “serious consideration” to the idea of converting retired ferries into refugee-processing centres, according to reports in the Times.
But this isn’t the first time that incarcerating asylum-seekers on ships has been suggested. The idea was put into practice in 1986 when the government rented a ferry called the Earl Williams to house dozens of detainees.
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