POLICE ‘MUST HALT ILLEGAL EVICTIONS’
Campaigners’ call in asylum seeker row
CAMPAIGNERS have called on police to stop the “illegal evictions” of hundreds of asylum seekers.
Multi-millionaire Rupert Soames, chief of Serco Group, has been slammed over plans to evict 330 people who have been refused refugee status on to the streets of Glasgow.
Robina Qureshi, director of Positive Action in Housing, said yesterday: “Our primary aim is to stop a mass eviction happening and to identify humane alternatives.
“Rupert Soames and Serco cannot lawfully evict any refugee or person with leave to remain without a court order under Scots law.
“We call on Police Scotland to intervene to protect refugees and those with leave to remain if Serco attempt such an unlawful eviction.”
The call came as police swooped on protesters who reportedly tried to storm the gate at the Home Office complex in Govan, Glasgow, where two men went on hunger strike on Thursday.
Rahman Shah, 32, and Mirwais Ahmadzai, 27, from Afghanistan, who face eviction by contractors Serco, insist it isn’t safe for them to return to their home country.
Police later confirmed two men, aged 45 and 58, were arrested at the protest.
Chief Inspector Michael Duddy, of Police Scotland, said their response would be “appropriate, proportionate and sensitive” but added: “The police have no role in a ‘lock-changing’ process.”
Soames has said it’s costing Serco more than £1million a year to support people whose asylum claims have been refused.