Following an upsurge in resistance to the plans to uproot dozens of families from their homes and communities in Pollokshaws in the south side of Glasgow, the Home Office has caved in to demands that people be found homes nearby.
Under the privatisation of asylum seeker housing in Glasgow, around 1000 people seeking refuge from political and religious persecution, war, torture and rape, currently housed by the council in flats leased from Glasgow Housing Association Ltd, are to be given a new private landlord.
The Council has been secretly working with the Home Office and YMCA Glasgow to get around guidelines which state that families should be rehoused within 3 miles of their current home, in an effort to move families out of GHA blocks scheduled for demolition, and into the YMCA mega-hostel on the other side of the city. Most families have refused to move away from their area and into a block that is totally inappropriate for families with children.
Under the privatisation of asylum seeker housing in Glasgow, around 1000 people seeking refuge from political and religious persecution, war, torture and rape, currently housed by the council in flats leased from Glasgow Housing Association Ltd, are to be given a new private landlord.
The Council has been secretly working with the Home Office and YMCA Glasgow to get around guidelines which state that families should be rehoused within 3 miles of their current home, in an effort to move families out of GHA blocks scheduled for demolition, and into the YMCA mega-hostel on the other side of the city. Most families have refused to move away from their area and into a block that is totally inappropriate for families with children.
Now the council has pulled out of the unholy alliance, forcing the Home Office to extend the relocation process and allowing time for landlords to find accommodation in the local area. Until now, they had all been adamant that there are no family-sized flats in the south side of Glasgow, a claim derided as ludicrious by the community activists who live there, and who have been supporting their asylum seeking friends and neighbours.
The families have been receiving support from their local communities, and from UNITY, the Union of Asylum Seekers in Scotland, who have organised protests and a solidarity presence that has prevented some planned evictions. Glasgow Campaign to Welcome Refugees and local community activists organised a public meeting in Pollokshaws Burgh Hall last night, attended by around 300 people.
Speakers from Glasgow's refugee communities told of their fears of being relocated to another housing scheme and how they want to have a proper flat in their own area, not live in a hostel. One family told how their son was badly beaten by local youths twice within two days of moving. Positive Action In Housing called for equal treatment for all families being moved out of the flats - why should asylum seeking families be denied rehousing in their area, have their kids moved to a new school and get no help with removals?
The meeting also heard that this is only a temporary reprieve, and that there are other vulnerable families across the city being moved by the private landlords - YMCA and Angel Group - from their homes to isolation in areas with no other refugees or support networks.
However, the mood of the meeting was upbeat. This was another small victory against the brutal Home Office machine. Earlier this year direct action and public protests led by the "Glasgow Girls" campaign forced the Home Office to halt the terrifying dawn raids on at least families with children studying for exams. The UNITY vigils and blockades of Brand Street Immigration Reporting Centre have resulted in families only having to sign monthly instead of every week. And now refugees with solidarity from their Scottish neighbours have won against a powerful coalition of Home Office, Council, YMCA and private landlords. No other city in Britain has won against the asylum system. Perhaps no other city has united in this way, the settled community alongside refugees, fighting back against the system.
The families have been receiving support from their local communities, and from UNITY, the Union of Asylum Seekers in Scotland, who have organised protests and a solidarity presence that has prevented some planned evictions. Glasgow Campaign to Welcome Refugees and local community activists organised a public meeting in Pollokshaws Burgh Hall last night, attended by around 300 people.
Speakers from Glasgow's refugee communities told of their fears of being relocated to another housing scheme and how they want to have a proper flat in their own area, not live in a hostel. One family told how their son was badly beaten by local youths twice within two days of moving. Positive Action In Housing called for equal treatment for all families being moved out of the flats - why should asylum seeking families be denied rehousing in their area, have their kids moved to a new school and get no help with removals?
The meeting also heard that this is only a temporary reprieve, and that there are other vulnerable families across the city being moved by the private landlords - YMCA and Angel Group - from their homes to isolation in areas with no other refugees or support networks.
However, the mood of the meeting was upbeat. This was another small victory against the brutal Home Office machine. Earlier this year direct action and public protests led by the "Glasgow Girls" campaign forced the Home Office to halt the terrifying dawn raids on at least families with children studying for exams. The UNITY vigils and blockades of Brand Street Immigration Reporting Centre have resulted in families only having to sign monthly instead of every week. And now refugees with solidarity from their Scottish neighbours have won against a powerful coalition of Home Office, Council, YMCA and private landlords. No other city in Britain has won against the asylum system. Perhaps no other city has united in this way, the settled community alongside refugees, fighting back against the system.
The struggle continues!
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Positive Action In Housing press release. 27 June 06
NASS forced removals to YMCA halted - temporarily - but the asylum communities' fight to remain in Pollokshaws continues.
Further to this morning’s press conference to highlight the plight of asylum seekers who are being forced to move 10 miles away to YMCA hostel accommodation in Red Road, Springburn, as a result of Glasgow’s demolition programme, we are pleased that NASS has put an immediate hold on moves to the YMCA for three months. We understand that a private company, the Angel Group has been asked to procure more properties in the Pollokshaws area, where asylum seekers are currently being accommodated with the aim of rehousing families in the local area, allowing children to remain at their current school.
Robina Qureshi, director, Positive Action in Housing, said:
“We welcome NASS’s decision to put a freeze on forced removals of asylum seekers to the YMCA for three months. It’s an utter disgrace that they would to try to forcibly uproot whole families into what was effectively designed as hostel accommodation while at the same time their indigenous Scottish neighbours were given choice in the local community.
“YMCA’s role in all this is utterly objectionable, they were set up to address social need yet they appear to be cashing in on the plight of vulnerable families as well as cooperating in sending families back. How much are they exactly making out of asylum families moved to the YMCA in Red road? And if they think the hostel accommodation with its archaic communal laundry – four washing machines serving 30 storeys – is so good perhaps they should set the example and move their own families in.
“NASS and the Council should remember that these families are not outsiders they have been here for several years and are part and parcel of the Southside community. If NASS try to forcibly remove the asylum families in Pollokshaws then they will have to deal with the growing discontent of the rest of the local communities as well.
“There is no ‘them and us’ here. The asylum families now have three months before the forced removals start again, this is the time to build their campaign to ensure that when the new school term starts in august 2006, their children are going to the same schools like other Scottish kids. We will assist them and so will other charities, churches and trade unions as well as ordinary decent Scottish citizens. Forced removals have no place in a decent civilised society and we aim to make sure it doesn’t happen at all. The campaign starts now.”
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Glasgow City Council press statement, 27 June 06:
There follows a brief statement from Councillor Irene Graham, Glasgow City Council's Equalities Spokesperson.
"We have been working closely with our partner agencies and NASS to minimise any disruption due to the scheduled demolition of properties used under the dispersal programme."NASS has agreed to a three-month extension for the transition process,which means we can put an immediate hold on moves to YMCA properties.
The Angel Group has been asked to procure more properties in the Pollokshaws area, where asylum seekers are currently being accommodated. Our ultimate aim is to re-house as many families in the local area as possible, allowing children to reamin at their current school."Glasgow welcomes asylum seekers and refugees and across our communities, they continue to make a positive contribution to the life of the city."
Notes to Editors:Previously, the Council was the only provider of housing under the dispersal programme, as agreed with NASS. The new contract sees the Council retain 80% of the provision, with 20% disposed between Angel Group and the YMCA. If Angel Group cannot secure enough properties in the area, then there can be no guarantee that asylum seekers will not need to move to alternative accommodation. However, partner agencies are working to ensure this is notthe case. Most NASS-contracted properties have been sub-let to the Council by GHA. Under its refurbishment programme, a number of GHA properties have been scheduled for demolition. Where this is the case, alternative accommodation must be sought for asylum and refugee inhabitants, as well as the indigenous population.
