ASYLUM-seeking mothers and mums-to-be have called for help after Home Office accommodation contractor Mears Group moved them into a “mother and baby” unit in Glasgow, which they said was unsuitable.

The initiative for pregnant women and those with babies under two years of age was launched a year ago in Pollokshaws, designed to house more than three dozen people for a maximum of two years.

Campaigners say more than 20 mothers and children are in the “open prison style” facility, having been moved from accommodation where they had already tried to integrate into the community.

The No Evictions Network said: “It is extremely concerning to the mothers and pregnant women who have been relocated in the height of a global public health crisis, that they are being uprooted by the Home Office and Mears from their settled private accommodation to shared, self-contained units.

“This significantly increases the risk of Covid-19 and even death.”

They said the immediate concern was the mothers were starting to experience a decline in their emotional and mental health.

One mother told The National: “For a place they’re calling a ‘mother and baby unit’, no consideration whatsoever has been given to the babies – they have no place to play but in the toilet.”

Another said: “We were subjected to harassment, intimidation … threatened with deportation if we did not comply – no one wants to be deported so we just complied. It feels like I’ve been uprooted from my community and dumped here like hot potato.”

A third mother said: “It feels like prison. The rooms are not properly ventilated, it is suffocating and they don’t lock from the inside.”

BME communities, charities and grassroots organisations who are supporting the women, have called for them all to be relocated to safe accommodation or returned to their former housing. In the interim they also wanted all child safety gates to be fitted in the self-contained units.

However, Mears Group said the unit was a new dedicated facility.

A spokesperson said: “The aim is to provide accommodation, along with access to healthcare and other support services, that is designed to best meet the needs of mothers and babies.

The facility has been refurbished to a high standard, rooms have private kitchen facilities and all are en-suite.

“The unit was developed in very close consultation with Glasgow City Council and with public health authorities who have been supportive of the provision and feedback has been positive.

“Most of the feedback we have had from the initial service users at the facility has been positive and where any issues are raised we are working to resolve these and continue to improve the facility.”