THE Bibby Stockholm barge was illuminated with a video telling the story of an asylum seeker who fled Afghanistan.

A campaign group has projected the story of a former British Army interpreter working in Afghanistan who became an asylum seeker onto the Bibby Stockholm at Portland Port.

The barge is currently housing around 500 asylum seekers, whilst their asylum claims are being processed.

The political campaign group Led By Donkeys has created a video telling the story of Rafi Hottak, which was projected onto the asylum barge in the video.

It is unclear whether the stunt video was real or fake.

In the video, Mr Hottak told of how he was seriously injured in the frontline in Afghanistan.

He said: "I started receiving threats and my family started receiving threats and the risk was increasing day by day.

"I was forced to make that journey. That choice did not come easy for me.

"I had to leave my family behind. 

"So I took that long and dangerous route to get here to the UK."

He told about how he crossed the English Channel in the back of a lorry.

Mr Hoffak said he had expected to be welcomed into the country when he arrived as a "hero".

He told police how he was an Afghan interpreter who wanted to claim asylum.

As soon as he said he didn't have any documents, he was arrested.

He added: "It was just like being in jail for no crime."

His case was rejected in the first instance but he was then granted refugee status after giving an interview to national newspapers.

Mr Hottak criticised the use of the Bibby Stockholm barge to house asylum seekers.

He said: "Today when I see that the UK government is sending asylum seekers to the Bibby Stockholm and to Rwanda, that takes me back to my own time.

"It is causing fear among these asylum seekers.

"This is not a deterrent, it is punishing these asylum seekers for not committing any crime.

"They have fled their countries, that is not a crime.

"Treating them like this, dehumanising them, taking their dignities away, their hopes away, that is not the right thing to do."

The video comes after a people's inquiry into the barge found that staff joked there was "one less Muslim mouth to feed", following the death of Leonard Farruku in December.