by Robina Qureshi, Director Positive Action in Housing
Glaswegians are in a jubilant mood after hundreds of protesters successfully resisted the UK Border Agency’s attempts to remove two asylum seekers from their neighbours and community. Those chants “these are our neighbours, let them go” were uplifting.
LakhSingh and Sumit Sehdevi are pictured above with lawyer Jelina Berlow Rahman. She attended the protest as a legal observer for our charity, and, has agreed to take up the men’s cases alongside Latta & Co Solicitors. Our extensive Humans of Glasgow Network came into its own by spreading the word. The power of digital.
Yesterday’s scenes were reminiscent of Mary Barbour’s rent strikes. Shockingly, they happened in the heart of Glasgow’s Muslim community, on Eid Ul Fitr, a Muslim holy festival to mark the end of Ramadhan. It was a small victory in the face of the Home Secretary’s “new plan for immigration”. This will see asylum seekers left on the streets as soon as they reach the UK, human rights abuses hidden from public gaze with the setting up of asylum reception centres, and the prospect of more deaths by drowning at sea because of a lack of safe and legal routes to refuge here.
We led a strong campaign to end dawn raids 16 years ago. So we have been here before. Early morning raids cannot happen without the cooperation of Police Scotland. If the devolved body declines to get involved, with the intervention of the Scottish Government, the UK Border Agency will not be able to carry out these early morning raids and harass our communities, including refugees, asylum seekers, migrants and those with NRPF or insecure status.
We are concerned about the prospect of further raids happening as part of Home Secretary Priti Patel’s “new plan for immigration”.
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