Asylum seekers / refugees
Scottish Greens call for asylum housing to be taken out of private hands
Scottish Greens councillor Kim Long has launched a new campaign for asylum seeker housing to be operated by the local authority and the third sector.
Published 15 July 2020
Cycling Scotland supports Glasgow's homeless during lockdown
Cycling Scotland staff have been getting on their bikes in lockdown to support homeless people in Glasgow.
Published 14 July 2020
Scottish Tech Army helps asylum seekers in Govan get online
Charities across Scotland are getting a digital boost during lockdown from a motivated team of hi-tech volunteers called the Scottish Tech Army.
Published 10 July 2020
The Margaret Taylor Interview: Lorna Walker - Park Inn tragedy highlights the need for asylum seeker justice
When news broke in June that a Sudanese asylum seeker had been shot dead after stabbing six people in a Glasgow hotel there was an immediate public outcry. How, people wanted to know, could a system that is supposed to protect the vulnerable have allowed a man with obvious mental health difficulties to be put in a situation where his problems were sure to escalate.
Published 9 July 2020
Glasgow issues temporary pause on asylum seekers as humanitarian concerns deepen
No more asylum seekers will be sent to Glasgow as the local authority attempts to “ease the pressures” on the city after last month’s knife attack and mounting concerns about living conditions for people in hotels during lockdown
Published 7 July 2020
Sabir Zazai: Stop treating people like pieces on a chessboard
Scottish Refugee Council CEO Sabir Zazai reveals anger over ‘abject failures’ of the Home Office and discusses how hostile asylum policies are out of touch with Scottish public opinion.
Published 7 July 2020
Report finds Mears had been fined for missing targets to find long-term accommodation for asylum seekers
Warnings about the adverse effect that placing asylum seekers in hotels and serviced apartments for long periods of time could have on their wellbeing were issued long before Mears moved hundreds of people from their homes in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Published 6 July 2020
Mears in talks with housing associations over future accommodation for asylum seekers
A dozen housing associations in Glasgow are in talks with Mears for the future provision of accommodation for asylum seekers who were moved into hotels at the beginning of the coronavirus crisis.
Published 25 June 2020
Charities call for increased protection for asylum seekers following Glasgow death
Concerns over the treatment of Glasgow's asylum seekers have been raised to ministers following the tragic death of a Syrian refugee in the city.
Published 12 May 2020
Mears moves 300 Glasgow asylum seekers into hotels where social distancing is ‘impossible’
Charities have reacted with alarm at reports that more than 300 men and women seeking asylum in Glasgow have been moved out of apartments and into hotels where they are worried that they can’t practice social distancing.
Published 23 April 2020
Scottish Refugee Council secures nomination agreement with Glen Oaks Housing Association
The Scottish Refugee Council (SRC) to work alongside housing associations to increase the housing options and quality of housing available to people it supports.
Published 14 April 2020
Rona Macleod: UK Supreme Court refuses to consider Ali v Serco and Others
Rona Macleod, a solicitor and associate at the Legal Services Agency (LSA), considers the case against Serco’s lock-change evictions post-Ali.
Published 14 April 2020
‘Deep disappointment’ as Supreme Court refuses appeal in Serco case
Home Office asylum accommodation provider Serco can legally carry out lock-changes evictions on refused refugees in Glasgow after an appeal case was rejected by the UK Supreme Court.
Published 7 April 2020
Asylum accommodation evictions paused for three months
The Home Office has confirmed that all evictions and terminations of asylum support have been paused for three months.
Published 2 April 2020
Charities issue plea to prevent COVID-19 evictions from UK asylum accommodation
A coalition of charities has called on Mears, Serco and the Home Office requesting an end to evictions from asylum accommodation during the COVID-19 crisis.
Published 26 March 2020
