Appeal for asylum rule shake-up
GLASGOW’S council leader wants asylum seekers who have waited three years for a decision to be allowed to stay.
Susan Aitken wants the council to push the Home Office to introduce an amnesty for people left waiting on a ruling.
She also wants asylum seekers to be able to work while they wait.
ASYLUM seekers who have been waiting three years without a decision should be allowed to stay, according to the leader of Glasgow City Council.
Susan Aitken wants the council to agree to call the Home Office to introduce an amnesty for people left waiting on a ruling on their future.
Ms Aitken also wants those who have been in the city for six months to be allowed to work or study as they wait a decision.
The council leader said that Glasgow needs more skilled workers and many asylum seekers come here with qualifications and experience that could be used for the good of the city.
Ms Aitken also raised the issue in a speech in Glasgow to the State of the City Economy conference.
She said: “We have been developing, and will bring forward early next year, our Inclusive City Strategy, which will focus not just on support for Glasgow’s refugee and migrant population to take advantage of employment opportunities, but also on encouraging employers to stop overlooking this valuable pool of skills and talent.
“Our economy needs skilled workers. Our migrant and refugee population provides them. It’s that simple.
“And we’ll continue to challenge the Home Office’s absurd ban on asylum seekers working. With on-going shortages in several key sectors, the UK Government’s continuing exclusion of often highly skilled asylum seekers from the workplace makes no sense for anyone.”
Ms Aitken says if the city is to continue as a successful dispersal city for asylum seekers, there needs to be changes to allow greater input and more resources provided for the council.
In the motion to be debated by the council this week, Ms Aitken also called for councils to be able to bid to take over the running of the accommodation contracts for asylum seekers.
Ms Aitken has already told MPs that the city was effectively prevented from applying to take over the contract to house asylum seekers due to Home Office rules.
Glasgow is home to 4500 asylum seekers currently housed in flats rented by private firm Serco, which this year sparked outrage in some quarters with its plan to change the locks and evict around 300 who had their cases rejected.
The council leader wants the awarding of the new contract to be paused and amend the procurement process to allow local authorities to bid for asylum accommodation contracts.