Scottish Parliament supports Glasgow asylum-seekers
21 November 2010 - Phil Chetwynd
In an unusual show of cross-party unity, today, the Scottish Parliament gave unqualified support to the hundreds of Glasgow asylum-seekers whose lives have been turned upside down by the recent unilateral decision of the United Kingdom Border Agency to terminate its contract with Glasgow City Council.
A delegation from Positive Action in Housing presented FirstMinister Salmond with a petition of over 1000 signatures condemning the UKBA for its sudden & arbitrary decision.Joty Chopra, final year student from Lourdes Secondary School. Cardonald, Glasgow told the First Minister how the new ruling was affecting asylum seekers in her area. “Our families received a letter out of the blue telling us to prepare to be moved somewhere else in Scotland within the next two weeks. We are allowed two bags of luggage each. Me and my pals have exams in two weeks time and I don’t know whether I’ll be able to take them now. I’m going to lose contact with lots of my friends.”
The UKBA, set up by the Westminster parliament under the last Labour administration, has absolutely no accountability to the Scottish people, and seems to be able to ride roughshod over the wishes of local communities in and around Glasgow.
