GOVAN Law Centre will begin legal proceedings against the company involved in the possible eviction of Glasgow asylum seekers.
The case will be heard at the Court of Session on September 17, it has been announced.
Private provider Serco first announced a rolling lock change eviction process for those not given refugee status in Glasgow last month.
The company, contracted by the Home Office, said it was paying accommodation for a number of asylum seekers in the city who had been denied the right to remain in the UK.
It had announced a pause on the plans in the face of legal challenges against the evictions at the Court of Session and Glasgow Sheriff Court.
On Wednesday, though, charity Positive Action in Housing said the upcoming hearing will be a substantive one to determine applicability of the Rent Scotland Act to eviction of asylum seekers.
This case will set the precedent for how asylum seekers are treated by asylum landlords across Glasgow and the rest of the UK wherever the Home Office subcontracts housing to asylum landlords.
Jeremy Corbyn called for an end to the privatisation of asylum and refugee accommodation as he met asylum seekers in Glasgow last week.
The Labour leader met with a family fleeing religious persecution in Pakistan, a teenage girl from Mauritius and a human trafficking victim from Vietnam to hear about their experiences of the system while in Maryhill.
He said: “Asylum-seeking families are stressed because they don’t know what their future holds or if they’ll get a favourable decision from the Home Office.
“I also heard of the horrors of how Serco having been changing the locks on people’s doors as they go out in order to evict them.
“That is inhumane and completely wrong, and I make the plea now to Serco: change your attitude and policy as of now on this matter.
“With our shadow home secretary, I will be making that demand to the Home Office because this is a Home Office-driven policy but they have outsourced it to Serco.
“I think outsourcing is wrong and unnecessary, and better-run by the public sector. These families need some certainty in their lives and they don't have any at the moment.”
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel