A housing provider in Glasgow has begun a mass eviction of asylum seekers as part of its lock-changing programme.
Serco, which provides free accommodation to around 300 people in the city, first announced it would be issuing eviction notices in July 2018.
Two men now say their locks have been changed, and have contacted the Scottish Refugee Council for assistance.
Law firms are in the process of challenging the Scottish courts on whether such evictions are lawful.
Glasgow City Council’s leader Susan Aitken previously warned the move could lead to “mass destitution”.
A number of refugee and housing charities have urged Serco to hold off until legal proceedings had concluded.
In July a number of refugee and housing charities urged Serco to hold off action until legal proceedings had concluded.
Until this question is settled and the Scottish courts rule definitively on this, we urge Serco to stop these evictions right now. Stop spreading fear & anxiety in Glasgow. People have enough to cope with.
— Scottish Refugee Council (@scotrefcouncil) July 26, 2019
It came after Serco announced it would restart the controversial policy, which it described as its “Move On Protocol”. It said no more than 30 people would be issued with eviction notices in a week.
However a spokesman for Serco told BBC Scotland the firm would not budge from their timetable.
Almost all evictions are of single adult men and women. Serco said “no children will be left without housing,” but have failed to state whether families will be evicted.
According to charity Positive Action in Housing, 200 people in Serco’s buildings will be left destitute by the evictions.
The charity have said they will be offering a Lifeline Service to those evicted and are calling on the people of Glasgow with spare rooms to offer them to an asylum seeker in need as part of their Room For Refugees initiative.
The Guardian has reported the Scottish Refugee Council have been contacted by two men whose locks were changed and their property removed from their accommodation by Serco.
One of the men, Ahmed, is a 33-year-old Syrian who came by lorry to the UK in 2011 and has received a notice to quit letter from Serco.
He said: “I have no idea what I would do next. There are so many other people suffering like this too.”
Serco has sent out letters to a number of people giving them notice to leave their accommodation.
According to Positive Action in Housing, a 34-year-old woman from Eritrea, a 72-year-old Syrian man who has lived in Glasgow for seven years and a 58-year-old woman from Gambia have also been issued with eviction letters.
A spokesperson for the Scottish Refugee Council tweeted: “Until this question is settled and the Scottish courts rule definitively on this, we urge Serco to stop these evictions right now.
“Stop spreading fear and anxiety in Glasgow. People have enough to cope with.”
Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard has also condemned the evictions.
Serco claims it costs about £1m a year to support people who remain in their properties after having their asylum claims rejected.
They have said the people they are evicting are “failed asylum seekers,” who have “no legal right to be in the country.”
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