Friday update - important

An update and Call to Action on the treatment of Glasgow asylum seekers being moved out of hotels

Help keep a clean mailing list  update your details or unsubscribe Join the mailing list CALL TO ACTION Support our Call To Action Donate via CAF Dear Supporter, Thank you for the support that you have given to help us improve the living conditions of Glasgow refugees and asylum seekers accommodated by the Mears Group, the Asylum Housing provider. Across Glasgow we now have a large network of volunteers delivering survival packs to people being moved by the Mears Group At the time of writing, many people are being moved out of hotels, into accommodation across Glasgow. On 3 August, we wrote to Chris Philp, Immigration minister, and the Home Office on behalf of seven asylum seekers, citing concerns about the handling of their move to residential accommodation. Last week Mears moved Falah to accommodation at Horne Street Glasgow . He had never seen it nor was he informed of the address beforehand. The accommodation was dirty and occupied by a man who appeared hostile and had mental health problems. The man did not speak the same language as our client  or speak English. Falah was too frightened to move in despite having packed his bags.The next day, another resident, a young man from Iraq called Karam, also an Arabic speaker, was moved into the same accommodation and spent the night terrified with a suitcase and a bin against the door. Karam fled early next morning with his bags packed. In the last few weeks, we are dealing with several emergency cases daily.  People have been left for months without any money at all in hotels, and therefore have ZERO resources when they move accommodation to pay for food/mobile phone top ups ( thereby leaving people hungry and often without communication as they can't afford mobile phone top ups) or cleaning materials to clean dirty accommodation provided by Mears Group. Our volunteers have been taking food and cleaning materials to houses.  Only today, we are assisting a young man suffering from cancer who has been in hotel accommodation for five months. Ahmed - not his real name - had cancer surgery on Wednesday 5 August and returned to the hotel on Thursday 6th August . He has had no money to buy even a piece of fruit and like all asylum seekers is forbidden to work. Ahmed is due to be moved to new accommodation today and has no money to make that move more humane for himself. He is fearful of who he might be placed with and of having no contact with the hospital and doctors as there will be no WiFi in the accommodation and top ups are expensive. What will he get? Judging by others' experience he will get around £15 over the weekend unless his Aspen card doesn't work. Should he buy food , essentials or a mobile phone top up with that? This is the norm right now in Glasgow since Mears took this contract on promises of compassion and goodwill. People do not know where they are going, if the place is dirty , or if the person they are sharing with is sane or so far gone they might be dangerous to themselves or you (Remember Park Inn?), whether they should buy food or a mobile phone top up (go hungry or stay in touch - these are the greatest needs). People tell us about the fear of Mears staff affecting their asylum claim and not daring to complain too much, of being told not to speak to "outside organisations".  We have today written to the Mears Board, who include David Miles CEO, and Julia Unwin, a former CEO of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, the Home Office, the Council and others with a relevant interest, to provide some insight to the extent of the crisis and misery we are dealing with because of the Mears Group contract in the hope that someone takes action by listening and  addressing people's suffering instead of simply executing a contract for profit. We continue to speak out about this humanitarian crisis and document the misery created by Mears Group. There is an ongoing humanitarian crisis in this city. We are a small charity doing more hands on work at a time of great uncertainty. We are mitigating some of the misery with a proactive team of volunteers taking food, household items and more as people are moved - functionally destitute - into accommodation. You can help by supporting our Call To Action https://www.paih.org/call-to-action-2020/ and giving a much needed financial donation. Regular donations help us respond quickly to these crises and reach those in greatest need. Yours sincerely Robina Qureshi Director Help someone from a refugee background get back on their feet by offering a temporary self contained accommodation or a room (all guests are screened) Sign up here - for more info email info@roomforrefugees.com LIKE OUR FACEBOOK PAGE Www.fb.me/positiveactionh Keep up with our latest campaigns. There's also Instagram www.instagram.com/positiveactionh and Twitter  @positiveactionh SIGN UP TO OUR MAILING LIST https://mailchi.mp/positiveactionh.org/signup GIVE A REGULAR DONATION Help deliver humanitarian support to those in greatest need. This makes a big difference to the lives of people going through crisis throughout the year. Make a one off or regular donation via CAF (we prefer regular donations however modest as it helps us plan our work): https://cafdonate.cafonline.org/7987#!/ DONATE VIA INTERNET BANKING: Positive Action in Housing Account 00447398 Sort code 822000 Tell us if you wish to gift aid your donation, just email financeassistant@positiveactionh.org  Companies wishing to donate can request an invoice by emailing accounts@positiveactionh.org Positive Action in Housing 98 West George Street  Glasgow G2 1PJ Working together to rebuild lives   Company limited by Guarantee Scottish Registered Charity SC027577 www.positiveactionh.org  www.roomforrefugees.com Background to this appeal Positive Action in Housing's Lifeline Service provides a breathing space so that people can decide their options and create a forward plan with their lawyer and caseworker. This approach has produced life transforming outcomes, putting autonomy back into peoples' lives. We focus resources on those at risk of exploitation: unaccompanied children, families, pregnant woman, the elderly and sick, and lone individuals living in poverty and people with health problems/disabilities.  As well as arranging shelter, our Winter Surgery provides bus tokens, food vouchers and hygiene packs, with books and art materials for children. We will also provide crisis grants to ensure people in these vulnerable and at-risk groups do not go hungry, cold, or forced to live on the street. In 2018/19, Positive Action in Housing assisted 1,501 destitute refugees & asylum seekers from Syria, Eritrea, Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, Palestine and Yemen with advice, legal representation, shelter, and crisis funds at crucial stages in their settlement. We provided 48K nights of shelter (www.roomforrefugees.com) and distributed £60K from our Emergency Relief Fund – providing a genuine lifeline. We work to resolve a crisis and rebuild lives. See our latest impact report Thank you for supporting this appeal.