THREE hundred and two refugee and asylum-seeking adults with 175 dependent children will walk through the doors of Positive Action in Housing this week to receive crisis aid. 

The charity, which is dedicated to rebuilding the lives of refugees and migrants, has held a presence in Glasgow for nearly 30 years.

From 2018-19, the charity aided 1501 refugees and asylum seekers from Syria, Eritrea, Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, Palestine and Yemen who were on the brink of destitution. 

As part of their annual winter appeal, Positive Action in Housing has been distributing bus passes, food items, sleeping bags, hygiene packs and essential winter survival kits in a two-day marathon winter surgery. 

Positive Action in Housing

Director Robina Qureshi said: “We started helping people with crisis grants in 2004, we saw people who were absolutely destitute from refugee communities. They weren’t allowed to access homeless accommodation and they were forbidden to work. As a result of that, we wanted to offer help. We ourselves as staff even started taking people into our homes.”

Qureshi said that the UK Government’s policy – that restricts asylum seekers from working while their claim is in the process of being considered – is often the cause of hardship faced by the hundreds of migrants and asylum-seekers attending the surgery. 

She said: “These are people who are not just poor – they are without any money at all. The Government is refusing people the permission to work, which means people become reliant on charity, food banks and goodwill in order to survive day 
to day. 

“The desperation we are seeing is people turning up today to see if they can get even £40. This is desperation that we will be witnessing here over the next two days.”

Government data, revealed earlier this year, showed that 16,970 asylum seekers had been waiting more than six months to receive a decision on their application – a 58% increase from the year before. 

Qureshi added: “We are seeing people who have been destitute for years at a time, in some cases up to 13 years. This is not uncommon, it is not because people are delaying their cases, it is because they are being fast tracked into failed asylum cases.

"We’ve got young men and women here today who have no clue what their future holds, and to keep somebody in despair for so long is heart-breaking to watch.” 

Charity director Robina Qureshi

A Home Office spokesperson said: “We are committed to processing asylum claims without unnecessary delay, ensuring individuals who need protection are granted asylum as soon as possible.

"Asylum seekers can work in the UK if their claim has been outstanding for at least 12 months through no fault of their own.  

“Individuals who would otherwise be destitute are provided with accommodation and a cash allowance to cover essential living needs while applications are considered.”

Positive Action in Housing is hoping to raise an additional £10,000 by Christmas Day, which will fund the two-day crisis surgery. 

'I don't want to rely on charity but I have no other choice'

By Ruth Suter

COMING through the doors of Glasgow’s Positive Action in Housing is 26-year-old Kourosh Pezeshki (changed for privacy reasons), who fled from Iran when he was a child. 

Pezeshki comes to receive crisis aid as an asylum-seeker, who is unable to work under government policy. 

He said: “I came to the UK because of the regime of Iran, it makes everybody run away. We had a tough and horrible life, I can say. 

“The people here are warm, welcoming and friendly. But when it comes to the system, unfortunately you find the horrible people.”

Pezeshki has now been destitute for 10 years waiting for his asylum. His case has been rejected three times and on two occasions, he waited more than three years for his results. 

Due not having a home address and a lack of communication between Pezeshki’s social workers, support workers and lawyers, he tells me that he missed a court case regarding his asylum in 2012. 

“Ten days after the court date, I eventually received the paperwork that showed the dates of my trial. 

“The judge decided without me, but I never knew. Everybody blamed each other, my solicitor blamed my social worker, my social worker blamed my solicitor. At the end of the day, I had to pay and I didn’t have any money.”

In 2013, Pezeshki was told he could no longer study English, maths and IT at entry level. It was from here where he began to see his life spiral out of control.

Kourosh Pezeshki

He said: “I eventually started studying, but when David Cameron came into parliament and refused refugees’ study fees, I could no longer study. 

“Everything went down one by one as I started getting older – as you get older your support decreases less and less.”

He has spent the last six years starting over and moving on and found himself moving from Essex to Glasgow. 

He lives on a government support allowance of £37.75 a week. 

When I asked him how he budgets on this amount, he tells me: “You cannot survive on this amount, so you need to get help. 

“First you try your friends and ask them for help, then you see that still isn’t working because you’re not making any money. 

“Churches have always been helpful, though.”

Finding himself in desperate situations, Pezeshki added: “Some people are forced to work illegally, in jobs that pay far less than the minimum wage. 

“I have seen people in my situation become drug dealers. Is this what the Government wants? More drug dealers? More prisoners?” 

In August, Pezeshki’s situation worsened when his housing support was removed from him. 

He was forced to sleep in a tent by the roadside for three weeks, where his physical and mental health deteriorated. 

Pezeshki said that he felt so hopeless he self-harmed and even attempted suicide. 

He used the aid provided from Positive Action in Housing to add mobile data to his phone to speak with his mother, who is still currently in Iran. 

Pezeshki hopes that one day he can become comfortable and earn himself a decent living.

“If I could work, my life quality would improve. 

“I could study again or earn some money to make me comfortable. I don’t want to rely on charities for necessities, but I have no other choice.”

In his last asylum application, the Home Office advised that he returns home to Iraq. Pezeshki is from Iran. 

To find out more and donate to the appeal, visit here.