An inquiry into how people seeking asylum were treated in Scotland during the pandemic has called for a complete overhaul of the asylum support system in the UK.
The inquiry was commissioned by our friends at Refugees for Justice after a number of people lost their lives in asylum accommodation in Glasgow during the pandemic.
The inquiry team listened to the testimony of people housed in hotel rooms in Glasgow at the time. They heard from people who were moved into hotel rooms at extremely short notice, sometimes given just ten minutes to pack and prepare, and without being properly informed about what was happening to them or where they were going. They found serious gaps and questions around whether people’s health and wellbeing, including previous exposure to torture and other forms of abuse, were assessed before these moves. Horrifically, they found that a ‘culture of fear’ existed among people moved into the hotel rooms, where people felt unable to speak up or ask for help as they feared it might affect their claim for refugee protection.
Our Chief Exec Sabir Zazai said:
“These findings are shocking and damning but sadly come as no surprise. People’s rights and wellbeing are not prioritised as they should be within the asylum system, and we saw some absolutely terrible and tragic outcomes as a result of that during the pandemic.
“The report describes the current asylum system as ‘broken’, and calls for nothing less than a complete overhaul of how people are received, treated and supported when they arrive in the UK seeking safety.
“There are some heart-breaking testimonies in this report. We want to honour and thank everyone who spoke to the inquiry team about their experiences. We join our colleagues at Refugees for Justice in calling now for a public inquiry, with full powers to hold the Home Office and its contractors to account, and for a re-set and re-think on all aspects of the UK’s asylum support system which is so clearly failing the people it is meant to support.”
We submitted written evidence to this inquiry. Key points from our evidence include:
- For a decade, the housing of refugees has been outsourced to large private companies, which operate for profit
- Since new commercial contracts started in autumn 2019, there has been a huge rise in the use of hotel rooms and army barracks to accommodate people seeking asylum. At the beginning of these contracts, around 1,000-1,500 people were living in these settings. By June 2022, that number was nearly 30,000
- It is our view that the rights and wellbeing of people in these settings was not considered nearly enough, and that profits for private companies were put above the safety of individuals
- Proper safeguarding was not done when people were moved into hotels or army barracks. Mental and physical wellbeing was not taken seriously
- 142 people lost their lives in asylum accommodation between April 2016 and August 2022. Of those 142 deaths, 114 (80%) have taken place since January 2020
- We are very worried about the conditions and directions in legislation, policy and practice, in the asylum procedure as well as in the support and accommodation system.
- In our view, human rights are not well understood by the Home Office or its contractors
Find out more about the inquiry and read the full report here
Read our most recent briefing on the crisis in the asylum system
Help us build a better future for people seeking refugee protection in Scotland.
