On July 6, the Swedish Migration Agency announced that the plan to house refugees on a cruise ship to be docked in the harbor of the northern Swedish town of Härnösand was called off.
The plan to use the Ocean Gala cruise ship to accommodate refugees will no longer move forward because the ship failed to obtain the correct permits from the local government, says the agency.
Kjell Tanberg, the spokesperson for Floating Accommodation, the company with which the migration agency had signed the deal, told TT that “it is obvious that the Swedish government is just trying to get rid of this. Rather than negotiate a termination, they are trying to find an excuse not to pay”.
Magnus Gustavsson, the Deputy Head of Operation Support at the Migration Agency, pointed out that obtaining permits was part of the agreement.
“We reviewed the documents Monday and Tuesday and that was the decision by the County Administrative Board of Västernorrland. It shows an obstacle to the agreement,” Gustavsson told TT.
The ship, which docked outside of Härnösand in mid-June, was going to house almost 2,000 refugees, and would have cost a total cost of 800,000 kronor per day to rent.
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Source: Sveriges Radio
