News update: Serco to resume "lock change" evictions in Glasgow

Starting from next week, the asylum landlord will hand deliver eviction letters to vulnerable refugees and asylum seekers ...

News: Serco to resume lock-change evictions in Glasgow making 300 vulnerable men and women destitute Starting this week, Rupert Soames' SERCO will resume "lock change" evictions against 300 vulnerable refugee and asylum seeking men and women in Glasgow, despite ongoing live proceedings in the Court of Session to decide on this matter. Serco has stated that "no children" will be made destitute, but fails to say whether families will be evicted. Two hundred people have no housing rights whatsoever and will be left absolutely destitute. At least one hundred have refugee status and housing rights. Glasgow City Council is responsible for their rehousing but has not said what it's emergency rehousing plan is. Serco has refused to tell the Council who is being evicted. The people being targeted will get three visits to their homes. Serco "housing officers" will turn up to hand deliver letters  21 and 7 days beforehand, and on the day of the lock change evictions. As Scots case law shows, the hand delivering of eviction letters is intimidating and open to abuse. There is no independently verifiable record of posting, eg a Royal Mail date stamp. Therefore, recipients could end up on the streets at a whim with little or no notice. Judging from past record, we expect vulnerable people to feel intimidated into leaving under pressure of Serco staff turning up at their doors to empty out flats. There will be no independent scrutiny. Police Scotland will not attend. Nor will Sheriff Officers. Refugees and asylum seeking families and individuals will be left at the behest of Serco officers. They don't know if police will even answer their calls and turn up to protect them if they are physically intimidated or threatened by Serco officers in their own homes.  Serco has conveniently labelled those it is evicting as "failed asylum seekers" getting "free housing" at "Serco's expense" who have "no legal right to be in the country". This is dehumanising rhetoric from a multinational making millions from UK and Scottish government contracts. It shows barely any understanding of the complex legal limbo people find themselves in through no fault of their own. Serco is a supposed landlord, and has no right to comment on a person's legal status.  The majority of people affected have refugee status, leave to remain or are still trying to secure a legal resolution through appeals. Very few are "failed". People want to resolve their status and rebuild their lives independently of the state or charities. It would save the taxpayer millions if the Home Office simply allowed asylum seekers, who are often well educated and skilled, the right to work and sustain themselves, instead of being stuck in tortuous administrative limbo for years. This is Glasgow's racist, hostile environment, with war refugees, many from Syria, Iraq, Eritrea, and Afghanistan, enduring systematic cruelty at the hands of an asylum system that fast tracks them into "refused" asylum status, then leaves them destitute.  What we are doing and how you can help In response to the crisis, Positive Action in Housing's Lifeline Service will be working harder than ever to provide proactive homelessness advice, support with Section 4 applications, emergency crisis grants or shelter to at least 50 households per week including those living in ongoing fear of destitution. From Monday 17 June 2019, we will offer an appointments based drop in service  from Mondays to Thursdays from 10 am to 12 noon & 2 pm to 3.00 pm. Anyone facing eviction, or their adviser, can call Positive Action in Housing on 0141 353 2220  and ask for an appointment with an adviser to discuss their options. A toolkit will also be provided for advisers. We will be working very hard to support everyone who is affected by this crisis. Please check our website, Facebook and Twitter for updates.   Offer a Spare Room If you live in Glasgow, and have a spare room available for a few weeks, sign up at www.roomforrefugees.com and we will screen safely and match you with someone who needs breathing space to decide their options Donate to our Destitution Appeal In aid of destitute refugee and asylum seeking men and women in Glasgow, many of whom are fleeing war in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, and elsewhere. As a small grassroots charity working proactively to provide advice, shelter and crisis support to hundreds of people affected by destitution each year, we depend on regular donations to help people rebuild their lives and campaign for human rights. Please give a regular donation using CAF or PayPal. It's safe, secure and takes just a minute. Or go to www.positiveactionh.org/donate for other ways to give.  Latest annual report. Charities Aid Foundation PayPal Giving Copyright © 2019 Positive Action in Housing, All rights reserved. Connected to our work Our mailing address is: Positive Action in Housing 98 W George Street Glasgow, G2 1PJ United Kingdom Add us to your address book We promise to keep your information safe and never share your personal details with third party or external organisations. You can unsubscribe from our emails anytime via the link Preferences | Unsubscribe

Emergency appeal for spare rooms in Glasgow and financial donations following SERCO lock changes starting next week

Serco plans to carry out lock change evictions and force 300 refugees and asylum seekers onto the streets of Glasgow ...

(Help us keep a clean mailing list, to remove yourself from our mailings please click unsubscribe at the end of this email) Dear Supporter, As you may know, SERCO has announced in a press statement that it will resume lock change evictions against 300 refugees and asylum seekers in Glasgow starting next week. See link to BBC news. We are shocked by this latest move. An appeal is lodged with the Court of Session by Govan Law Centre, the hearing took place on June 10th 2019. The decision will be known on July 1 2019. We are therefore calling on Serco to suspend these evictions pending the Court of Session appeal. SERCO agreed publicly not to take any immediate action to evict after the Court of Session judgement last month, and would consult with "key partners". Neither of these happened, in fact, since April 2019, asylum seekers have come into our office in Glasgow with letters telling them to leave their accommodation immediately. People are feeling intimidated into leaving their accommodation. In the absence of a structured eviction process with sheriff officers attending, we are extremely concerned as to the manner of these lock change evictions. We are aware that people have complained about SERCO officers rifling through their personal belongings, sudden lock changes taking place while people are out at college or their lawyer or at the GP. There is no procedure. We do not know what these lock change evictions will look like. Anecdotal evidence tells us that vulnerable, frightened people, both men and women, will be further distressed.  Our advice is to decline to leave so that they can appeal to the first tier tribunal against negative asylum support decisions. Many of the people affected by the lock change evictions are very vulnerable individualswho's only alternative will be destitution. SERCO keeps referring to phased lock changes, whereby 30 people a week will be turned out onto the streets of Glasgow, yet with in the next 2.5 months we will see at least 300 people being made totally destitute in Glasgow, some of whom will beg other asylum seekers to take them in thereby risking others' accommodation. Furthermore, this charity will face an increased demand from destitute people seeking  emergency grants and spare rooms in the homes of our volunteers hosts through Room for refugees. We are appalled that Serco would carry out these actions against vulnerable refugees who endure interminable Home Office delays with their cases. We have been told by several Serco residents that they have considered suicide. It is a chilling reminder of the triple suicide of an asylum seeking couple and their son in Glasgow's Red Road flats in 2010, on the day they were told they had to get out of their Home Office flat. To avoid lock changes, some Serco residents stopped going to college or leaving their flats to buy milk or bread. We are talking about families, children, the elderly, the disabled, lone women and men. This is the hostile environment on Scottish soil, war refugees, many from Syria, Iraq, Eritrea, and Afghanistan, endure systematic cruelty at the hands of an asylum system that fast tracks them into "refused" asylum status, then leaves them destitute. It needs to be remembered that many of the asylum seekers that Serco intends to evict are often pursuing their legal cases and have had their decisions overturned on appeal. Emergency Appeal for spare rooms in Glasgow and donations To address the current emergency situation, Positive Action in Housing is providing an emergency response service for people facing evictions from Mondays to Thursdays between 10 am and 12 noon and 2 pm to 3.00 pm. Anyone facing eviction, or their adviser, is advised to call Positive Action in Housing on 0141 353 2220  and ask for an appointment with an adviser to discuss their options, emergency advice and support. Please, if you live in Glasgow, and have a spare room, please register at www.roomforrefugees.com and we will contact you to match you with someone who needs breathing space for a few weeks until they can decide their options. we have today launched a Just-giving  emergency appeal in aid of the asylum seeker men and women, many fleeing war in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, who are to be made destitute in Glasgow by SERCO. Such an  action places added pressure on Positive Action in Housing's Emergency Relief Fund which provides crisis grants and arranges free shelter through our Room for Refugees Network. Genuine Refugees endure systematic cruelty at the hands of an asylum system that fast tracks them into "refused" asylum status, then leaves them destitute. Please see our annual report for the humanitarian work we do to help people rebuild their lives, and donate if you can. Finally, we depend on regular donations to help us help people to rebuild their lives and campaign for peoples basic human rights. It takes only a minute. Donate regularly using PayPal Giving. Or donate regularly via Charities Aid Foundation . Or go to www.positiveactionh.org/donate for other ways to give. Kind regards Robina Qureshi Director Positive Action in Housing  98 West George Street Glasgow G2 1PJ Registered charity number SC027577 Company limited by guarantee 158867   (To remove yourself from our mailings please click unsubscribe at the end of this email)   Copyright © 2019 Positive Action in Housing, All rights reserved. Connected to our work Our mailing address is: Positive Action in Housing 98 W George Street Glasgow, G2 1PJ United Kingdom Add us to your address book Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.

SERCO Lock change Evictions to go ahead from next week and emergency appeal

Serco plans to carry out lock change evictions and force 300 refugees and asylum seekers onto the streets of Glasgow ... 

(Help us keep a clean mailing list, to remove yourself from our mailings please click unsubscribe at the end of this email) Dear Friend, click to donate to the emergency appeal As you may know, SERCO has today announced in a press statement that it will resume lock change evictions against 300 refugees and asylum seekers in Glasgow starting next week. See link to BBC news. We are shocked by this latest move. An appeal is lodged with the Court of Session by Govan Law Centre, the hearing took place on June 10th 2019. The decision will be known on July 1 2019. We are therefore calling on Serco to suspend these evictions pending the Court of Session appeal. SERCO agreed publicly not to take any immediate action to evict after the Court of Session judgement last month, and would consult with "key partners". Neither of these happened, in fact, since April 2019, asylum seekers have come into our office in Glasgow with letters telling them to leave their accommodation immediately. People are feeling intimidated into leaving their accommodation. In the absence of a structured eviction process with sheriff officers attending, we are extremely concerned as to the manner of these lock change evictions. We are aware that people have complained about SERCO officers rifling through their personal belongings, sudden lock changes taking place while people are out at college or their lawyer or at the GP. There is no procedure. We do not know what these lock change evictions will look like. Anecdotal evidence tells us that vulnerable, frightened people, both men and women, will be further distressed.  Our advice is to decline to leave so that they can appeal to the first tier tribunal against negative asylum support decisions. Many of the people affected by the lock change evictions are very vulnerable individuals, often with severe mental health issues, who's only alternative will be destitution. SERCO keeps referring to phased lock changes, whereby 30 people a week will be turned out onto the streets of Glasgow, yet with in the next 2.5 months we will see at least 300 people being made totally destitute in Glasgow, some of whom will beg other asylum seekers to take them in thereby risking others' accommodation. Furthermore, this charity will face an increased demand from destitute people seeking  emergency grants and spare rooms in the homes of our volunteers hosts through Room for refugees. We are appalled that Serco would carry out these actions against vulnerable refugees who endure interminable Home Office delays with their cases. We have been told by several Serco residents that they have considered suicide. It is a chilling reminder of the triple suicide of an asylum seeking couple and their son in Glasgow's Red Road flats in 2010, on the day they were told they had to get out of their Home Office flat. To avoid lock changes, some Serco residents stopped going to college or leaving their flats to buy milk or bread. We are talking about families, children, the elderly, the disabled, lone women and men. This is the hostile environment on Scottish soil, war refugees, many from Syria, Iraq, Eritrea, and Afghanistan, endure systematic cruelty at the hands of an asylum system that fast tracks them into "refused" asylum status, then leaves them destitute. It needs to be remembered that many of the asylum seekers that Serco intends to evict are often pursuing their legal cases and have had their decisions overturned on appeal. Emergency Appeal To address the current emergency situation, we have today launched a Just-giving  emergency appeal in aid of the asylum seeker men and women, many fleeing war in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, who are to be made destitute in Glasgow by SERCO. Such an  action places added pressure on Positive Action in Housing's Emergency Relief Fund which provides crisis grants and arranges free shelter through our Room for Refugees Network. Genuine Refugees endure systematic cruelty at the hands of an asylum system that fast tracks them into "refused" asylum status, then leaves them destitute. Please see our annual report for the humanitarian work we do to help people rebuild their lives, and donate if you can. Finally, we depend on regular donations to help us help people to rebuild their lives and campaign for peoples basic human rights. It takes only a minute. Donate regularly using PayPal Giving. Or donate regularly via Charities Aid Foundation . Or go to www.positiveactionh.org/donate for other ways to give. Kind regards Robina Qureshi Director Positive Action in Housing  98 West George Street Glasgow G2 1PJ Registered charity number SC027577 Company limited by guarantee 158867   (To remove yourself from our mailings please click unsubscribe at the end of this email)   Copyright © 2019 Positive Action in Housing, All rights reserved. Connected to our work Our mailing address is: Positive Action in Housing 98 W George Street Glasgow, G2 1PJ United Kingdom Add us to your address book Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.