A report published by the UK government recommended that officials should provide separate prayer rooms for Sunni and Shia Muslims aboard the Bibby Stockholm to avoid sectarian clashes, injuries, and deaths.
In an exclusive report by the Daily Mail, the British Home Office mentioned in its equality impact assessment that the two sects of Islam were a major cause of conflict across the Middle East, and not segregating them could lead to unrest at sites where immigrants were being housed in the country.
The document cited the necessity to provide separate prayer rooms as the violence between the sects could cause "adverse behaviors," and that interactions between the two groups "should be monitored."
The report was published after a death was reported aboard the immigrant accommodation barge earlier this month.
The Home Office also deemed the housing of asylum seekers aboard the barge was discriminatory, pursuant to the 2010 Equality Act on the grounds of sex and age, and that changes may be needed.
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Sectarian Fights Affect Other Asylum Seekers
Separately, RAF Scampton, an air base in Lincolnshire, published a report warning of "tensions" resulting from the Sunni/Shia divide and also recommended that separate prayer rooms be created to avoid any future scuffles, the Mail reported.
Footage of fights breaking out between asylum seekers at RAF Wethersfield, a former base in Essex, also emerged recently.
These incidents were apparently on the rise, prompting other asylum seekers to urge British authorities to do something about the riots.
A 19-year-old man from Iran described the fights as "dangerous" and it left him feeling "scared"
"Inside the camp: dangerous, because [most] nights..." he told ITV News. "[There is] fighting another nationality, another language, another people."
