Asylum Seekers / Refugees

A group of social justice lawyers based in Glasgow have secured on behalf of asylum seekers in Scotland the right to access legal aid for representation in tribunal appeals, where they face eviction from housing provided by the Home Office. The Glasgow Social Justice Lawyers came together in summer

More Scottish local authorities are to assist Afghan families moving to the UK under a government relocation scheme.   Aberdeen City Council is among a number of local authorities that will support families across the UK during their temporary resettlement. 

The Scottish Refugee Council has started an Afghan Support Network to coordinate all of its members' generous offers of support for Afghan refugees. The council has offered thanks to everyone who has taken the time to contact it with kind offers of practical support for people fleeing the Taliban. I

Councils and housing associations across London are to be given support to buy former council homes from the private sector that can be used to resettle families arriving from Afghanistan The Mayor of London Sadiq Khan is expanding his new Right to Buy-back fund to help councils buy homes

Local authorities from across Scotland have signalled their intent to offer a haven to Afghans escaping the turmoil in their homeland. A number of Afghan natives, interpreters and their families are being relocated to the UK, because of the potential dangers posed to them by the Talib

Organisations and community groups working to support refugees in Scotland will share £2.8 million through a new grant scheme. In total, 56 projects will receive funding to deliver initiatives designed to help New Scots settle in their adopted communities by promoting employability, education,

Scottish Refugee Council and the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) have launched new guidance to help landlords give refugees and people seeking asylum a safe and secure place to call home. A Housing Practitioners’ Guide to Integrating Refugees and People Seeking Protection provides those w

Three homes in South Ayrshire will be made available to refugees from Afghanistan The individuals, who had to flee Afghanistan for their own safety, will be offered to help staff who worked for the UK military mostly as interpreters in the country.

HMRC was wrong to refuse a backdated claim for child tax credits for asylum seekers who had been granted refugee status, a judge in the Court of Session has ruled in the first successful social security test case for asylum seekers and tax credits in the UK.

More than 50 refugee and migrant organisations, lawyers and academics across Scotland, Wales and England have signed an open letter to home secretary Priti Patel to raise questions about the ongoing Aspen card crisis and the card contractor PrePaid Financial Services.

Ten days have now passed with thousands of asylum seekers, including several hundred in Glasgow, being left without working payment cards due to a Home Office contract changeover, writes Robina Qureshi.

A move by the Home Office to house asylum seekers in a "squalid" military barracks in Folkstone was flawed and unlawful, the High Court has found.

CIH Scotland director Callum Chomczuk on the need for reform of our immigration system to end the hostile environment. In March the Home Office published a new immigration plan it said would improve the fairness and efficacy of the system. However, the reality is these proposals may end up

Wheatley Group is stepping up its support to help refugees and asylum seekers settle into life in Scotland with the development of a new welcome pack. The pack will help refugees access information and advice on their rights, choices and housing options, including tenancy agreements translated

Positive Action in Housing (PAIH) has described the use of hotels as asylum accommodation under the Home Office/Mears contract as the "most inhumane" it has ever witnessed.