THE city of Glasgow is one of the most diverse and vibrant in the world.
Residents move to our great city from every corner of the globe, celebrating different cultures and religions. It is that diversity that makes me proud to represent this city every single day. However, it is that love for Glasgow – and Scotland – that makes today’s raid even more heartbreaking.
Let’s be very clear: what took place in Pollokshields today, ordered by the UK Home Office, was a clear infringement of basic human rights.
It is my understanding that Home Office immigration enforcement officers arrived in Kenmure Street this morning, with the intention of forcibly detaining two individuals who were subsequently placed in the back of a van. They were only stopped from doing so by local residents who intervened. Hours later, the individuals remain detained, unable to leave or access legal representation.
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Perhaps even more distressing is the timing. To conduct such an inhumane act during the holy celebration of Eid Mubarak is hugely immoral, and to me and many others seems deliberately antagonistic.
It is abundantly clear to me that the people of Pollokshields – and Glasgow more generally – will not stand for this type of thing. That’s why we’re seeing such an overwhelming reaction from local residents; these policies are not in our name.
I, and many of my SNP colleagues – including the First Minister – have been trying to make contact with the Home Office today to find an appropriate resolution to this matter. Inexplicably, no-one has seen fit to return our calls.
Furthermore, it is only days since I signed a joint letter with my MP colleagues across Glasgow on this very matter – calling on the Home Office to end its practice of dawn raids, which are often carried out with no notice, and take no consideration of the vulnerabilities of the individual.
They seem quite content to separate families, with no forethought for the human impact of their actions. Sadly, this is an approach that we have become accustomed to and one that characterises how the Home Office choose to do business.
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In recent months, the SNP have challenged the UK Tory government over many dangerous and inhumane proposals that they believe will tackle the “immigration problem”. From shipping asylum seekers to remote island detention centres, to reintroducing dawn raids, to deliberately ignoring article 31 of the Refugee Convention. None of these policies reflect the type of nation that Scotland wants to be.
I hear all too often from constituents of the inhumane treatment that they have suffered at the hands of the Home Office. Refugees and asylum seekers detained without reason; families separated; single parents given no recourse to public funds; interminable delays when processing applications. The department has been told countless times that it is failing people but consistently show no remorse or compassion.
There is a clear difference between Westminster and Holyrood: one parliament wants to close its borders, the other wants to welcome people in. In Scotland, we want to take a different approach to immigration – a power currently reserved with Westminster.
Instead of the callous and hostile methods adopted by this UK Tory government – as seen first-hand in Pollokshields today – the SNP want to introduce a more fair and humane immigration system.
It is only with independence that we will be able to implement a progressive policy that meets the country’s needs and protects those who choose to make Scotland their home.
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Callum Baird, Editor of The National
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