DOORS OPEN FOR CRISIS AID
Charity offers up vital help to hundreds of asylum seekers in city
THREE hundred and two refugee and asylumseeking 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.
Director Robina Qureshi said: “We started helping people with crisis grants in 2004, we seen 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.”
Quereshi 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.
Quereshi 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.”
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.