Destitute in Scotland

The mass eviction of asylum seekers in Glasgow by the private housing provider Serco has begun. The action had been threatened for more than a year and is being challenged in the courts. Serco first announced the plan to evict 300 asylum seekers in Glasgow – all of whom have been told they cannot stay in the UK – last July, but put the action on hold following widespread condemnation.  Serco told BBC Scotland the firm would not budge from their timetable.

Glasgow City Council's leader Susan Aitken warned the move could lead to a "humanitarian crisis" 
Susan Aitken said: "I remain deeply concerned about the impact of lock changes and a UK government policy which both demands its contractors force people from their homes and simultaneously prevents local agencies from helping those facing destitution. We have, repeatedly, raised these concerns with the government and sought its support in averting the potential humanitarian crisis that will unfold if hundreds of people are made homeless on the streets of Glasgow with no right to even the most basic state assistance. Glasgow has benefited from immigration and its involvement in the dispersal program. However, these inhumane practices are against the express wishes and values not only of the council, but also the citizens and communities we serve."

A coalition of refugee and housing charities, including Shelter Scotland, urged Serco to halt the evictions until litigation was completed, describing the plan to remove hundreds of refused asylum seekers as “inhumane” and warning that it would lead to a homelessness crisis in the city. 

Shelter Scotland charity's director Graeme Browne added: "We're talking about a group of people who don't have access to homelessness services and who will become destitute if locked out of their homes.

The Scottish Refugee Council is concerned that Serco may be targeting isolated and vulnerable individuals: neither of the first two evictees were in contact with refugee services or aware of the possibility of obtaining a court order to halt their evictions.

Asylum seekers and case workers who describe the psychological toll of living with the threat of eviction on a daily basis for over a year. 

A spokesperson for the Scottish Refugee Council tweeted, "Stop spreading fear and anxiety in Glasgow. People have enough to cope with."

The hardships faced by the refugees facing eviction are “unfathomable”, says Lindsay Reid, a casework adviser at the Scottish Refugee Council. “They have lost their homes, families, culture and way of life, then they come here and there’s a second loss of their basic rights and no ability to establish a life for themselves.” Reid describes a “stagnant” existence in which individuals cannot provide for themselves and so must depend on charities or faith groups to access food, basic toiletries and clothes. “For people who had established lives, who have the skills, experience and intellect but no avenue to use them, the level of frustration is palpable. They feel less than human. We see a lot of suicidal ideation and attempts.”

“If I go back home now and the locks are changed, what can I do?” asked Ahmed, a 33-year-old Syrian who came by lorry to the UK in 2011 and has received a notice to quit letter from Serco. “I have no idea what I would do next. There are so many other people suffering like this too.”  Ahmed is in the bizarre situation of having been denied assistance to return to his home country after the refusal of his 2015 application for voluntary return, made in desperation at the length of time he was wasting in the UK asylum system – yet he is about to be made destitute in Scotland.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/jul/26/glasgow-asylum-seeker-evictions-serco-homelessness-crisis