Asylum seekers in Glasgow are demanding that they are removed from hotels and put back into homes around the city.
During a protest that took place on Wednesday night, asylum seekers and charities demanded the Home Office and Mears Group (the company contracted to oversee refugees housing in Glasgow) show their duty of care.
The protest was attended by around 30 people, those attending shared their experiences of being an asylum seeker in the city, with one protester saying living in a hotel was no better than a detention centre.
The protesters are asking that the asylum seekers be returned to housing and the £5 daily allowance be reinstated.
Robina Qureshi, from Positive Action in Housing claimed there had been a “catalogue” of failures in the duty of care to refugees, she said: “Let me put you into the Park Inn hotel where I was told ‘It’s like a pressure cooker in there’.
“These are not people on holiday, these are people who have come fleeing for their lives. But you have a Home Office with a culture of disbelief.
“This is about the failure of duty of care.
“Are women here able to buy sanitary protection? Shall we talk about the blood-stained sheets people are too afraid to put outside because they couldn’t have sanitary protection?
“You treat people with such indignity while taking a £1 billion housing contract.”
Hegma, a refugee from Sudan, said the hotels’ asylum seekers were housed in were no better than detention centres.
She claimed: “You say we were all accommodated in hotels? Why are you complaining – it’s very nice rooms and nice services.
“But no, there is nothing there. It is a detention centre. You will be locked in a small, tiny room.”
Protesters are also demanding that: “Both the Home Office and Mears Group have serious questions to answer.
“The uprooting of asylum seekers from their homes into hotels was always a bad response to the Covid-19 crisis. Many asylum seekers are living with trauma or long-term mental health problems associated with their harrowing life experiences.
“Transferring them to isolated hotel rooms beside strangers, without suitable vulnerability checks by either Mears or the Home Office was always a terrible idea.”
A Home Office spokesman said: “These claims are inaccurate – when staying in hotel accommodation, all essential living needs, including three meals a day, healthcare, WiFi and TV, are met.
“This is all paid for by the taxpayer and there is no cost to the individual, so we do not pay an allowance in these circumstances.
“Those in hotels were not confined to their rooms and could come and go as they please, accommodation providers monitor the welfare of the residents and if any asylum seeker experiences issues, there is a 24-hour hotline available for support.”
The Mears Group declined to comment.
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Editor-in-Chief | Carl D. Pearson has been involved in British politics and media from an early age, with the key knowledge of what it takes to run a news organisation for the 21st century. Mr Pearson, as Editor-in-chief, is responsible for supervising the daily tasks of publishing media and content to UNN’s website and various platforms.
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