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. 

The experiment almost ended in disaster the following year when a storm with hurricane-speed winds dragged the ferry from its moorings in the Essex port of Harwich and out to sea. 

The crew, security guards and 78 detainees on board were all brought to safety and the government gave the asylum-seekers temporary admission on compassionate grounds. Some had been detained on the vessel for over a year. 

The majority were Tamil refugees from Sri Lanka who had fled pogroms and massacres in their homeland. 

Among those who boarded the vessel in solidarity with the protesters were current MPs Jeremy Corbyn and Diane Abbott, along with then MP Harry Cohen.

Vanchees Jana, director of the Tamil Welfare Association in Newham, who supported detainees held on the Earl Williams, told the Morning Star that he was “deeply concerned” to hear the idea of prison ships for asylum-seekers suggested again after it almost ended in the deaths of nearly 100 people. 

“Anyone considering this matter needs to know what happened 30 years ago … they need to know how dangerous this idea is,” he said. 

“Safety is the main issue. If there is any storm … the people on the ship are the first people to be killed. They escaped [fearing for their lives] from their native country… so putting them in another highly risky condition is not acceptable.”

Mr Jana, who came to Britain as a refugee from Sri Lanka in the early 1980s, said the conditions on the ferry were “very poor,” basic medical care was not given and detainees suffered huge harm to their mental health from being totally isolated. 

After the ship was dragged out to sea, Mr Jana said that the government had admitted the idea had been wrong. But now, more than 30 years later, he finds himself calling once again for the idea to be scrapped. 

Ministers “need to abandon this idea that risks the asylum-seeker life,” he stressed. 

Yesterday, the Home Office’s top civil servant said that “everything is on the table” following numerous revelations this week of possible plans to deter asylum-seekers from coming to Britain. 

They include reports that No 10 is also considering opening offshore centres to process asylum-seekers, similar to the widely condemned Australian model. 

Criticism of the plans continued to flood in yesterday from politicians and human-rights groups. 

Refugee Action chief executive Stephen Hale warned that the “out-of-sight approach” would risk exposing vulnerable people to human-rights abuse and trauma. 

“These ideas are steeped in racism and if put into practice, would lead to suffering and injustice highly reminiscent of the Windrush scandal,” he said. 

“Britain is better than this. We need a fair and effective asylum system, based on compassion, safety and the rule of law.”

United Nations refugee agency the UNHCR said that offshore processing “demonises and punishes” people who are seeking sanctuary. 

A spokesperson said: “ It closes pathways to protection, recovery or integration.”

The Prime Minister’s spokesman said: “We are developing plans to reform our policies around illegal migration and asylum to ensure that we are able to provide protection to those who need it while preventing abuse of the system and the criminality associated with it.”