Glasgow leads efforts to help asylum seekers

GLASGOW is currently supporting more asylum seekers than any other local council area in the UK.

Official figures on the number of people whose status is ‘ asylum seeker’ and which local authority area they are in reveal the share of the burden being shouldered by Glasgow.

The data, seen by the Glasgow Times, shows Glasgow at the moment is home to almost 5000 asylum seekers.

The UK Government operates a dispersal programme where people are sent around the four nations, as well as people finding their own way to Glasgow.

The city has 4494 asylum seekers currently housed in accommodation waiting for a decision on their claim.

Only Birmingham has a higher number at 4555, but when the size of the population is taken into consideration, asylum seekers account for 0.71% of people in Glasgow and just 0.40% in Birmingham.

Manchester has 2722 people seeking asylum, while Liverpool has 2738 and Belfast has 2299.

Oher big UK cities also have fewer than Glasgow. Sheffield has 2075, Cardiff has 1928, and Leeds has 2791.

A decision last year by the UK Home Office to speed up applications has led to more people either being granted refugee status or refused, and either way forced to leave their Home Office provided accommodation, with many presenting as homeless to the council.

It has led to calls from city leaders for the UK Government to provide extra support so that council and other services are able to cope with the increased demand.

Susan Aitken, Leader of Glasgow City Council, said: “It has been the case for many years that a proportionately higher number of asylum seekers have been dispersed here compared to our population. For many years, we have been a beacon for successful integration of refugees into Glasgow’s communities.

“Glasgow has been enriched by being part of the asylum dispersal process, in spite of the significant challenges posed by the Home Office and wider UK Government

refusal to fund dispersal appropriately.”

Over the winter, there were more people reporting as homeless and more people unable to be accommodated, with the asylum process identified as a significant factor.

Cllr Aitken added: “Their recent decisions are pushing cities to breaking point, fuelling community unrest, increasing levels of homelessness and rough sleeping and costing local government millions of pounds to deal with.

“They need to get round the table with cities and work with us to provide funding to deal with the impact of their decisions and reduce the harmful impact it is having on people going through the asylum process and those supporting them.”