CONCERNS are growing for the Indian man still held in a detention centre after a “secret” dawn raid in Glasgow.
Last week this newspaper revealed how the 48-year-old, who is seeking political asylum, had already been taken from his bed to detention when crowds surrounded a Home Office van in Kenmure Street, Pollokshields.
The incidents happened just 3.5 miles and less than one hour apart on May 13.
READ MORE: REVEALED: The Glasgow dawn raid the public did not witness
While the two men from Kenmure Street – Sumit Sehdev and Lakhvir Singh – were released from custody to fight their immigration battles, the other man, also an Indian Sikh, is still in Dungavel Immigration Detention Centre.
The Sunday National has agreed not to publish his name as he fears persecution if he is sent back to India after 16 years in Scotland.
But we can today reveal that a fresh application for asylum – submitted the day after he was taken into custody from emergency homeless accommodation in Possilpark – has been formally rejected by the Home Office.
The decision came on Thursday in a quick turnaround that stunned his solicitor Denize Okan, of Glasgow practice McGlashan MacKay.
She told the Sunday National: “It is highly frustrating that such a decision was served a mere six days after lodging when in usual circumstances we would wait an average of around two years, although often far longer. It is clearly a different story when it is in the best interests of the Home Office to expedite matters in what seems to be an attempt to obstruct any prospect of bail being granted on the basis of him having further submissions lodged.
“Until present, no removal directions have been served upon our client. In the Home Office’s own country returns guide of May 6 2021, it is stated that it would take a minimum of three months to obtain an emergency travel document for India. This being said, we are gravely concerned about our client and we are left wondering about what the Home Office’s intentions truly are at this time.
“We are in the process of raising judicial review proceedings against the Home Office’s decision. We are hopeful that this will assist us in securing his release from detention.”
This week tensions over the return of dawn raids remained. On Thursday grassroots networks shared social media alerts about immigration vans being spotted in Paisley and Glasgow. It was claimed that in Paisley, the van left when householders didn’t open the door. In Glasgow, people responding to the alerts said they couldn’t find any signs of Home Office activity.
But the response by Twitter users confirms continued public concern about the return of the practice, which had been abandoned in Scotland in 2005 thanks to campaigning teenagers who became known as the Glasgow Girls when their activism captured the public consciousness.
It has also led to questions about Police Scotland’s role in the process against a backdrop of a major policy clash between Holyrood, which has hit out at the Home Office’s actions, and Westminster, which controls all powers over immigration.
Robina Qureshi (above), director of refugee and migrant homelessness charity Positive Action in Housing, has rejected the force’s claims that its officers were “at the scene to police the protest and to ensure public safety”, saying: “All that needs to happen to stop the continued harassment of our communities is for the police to refuse to cooperate or accompany these vans. It’s as good as putting the padlocks on the whole operation.”
The Sunday National asked the force if it had been warned of the raids through operational notification forms. These are routinely issued by the Home Office to police – but not councils or the Scottish Government – to give them the chance to reply with any concerns.
We also asked if it had raised concerns and how many such notices it has received this year amidst concerns that other detentions have gone unnoticed.
A 67-year-old heart patient collapsed when he was raided in April. He was left alone in hospital with no cash or transport to get home.
THE force declined to answer our questions, but did reissue its standard line: “Police Scotland does not have responsibility for immigration enforcement. We will, however, respond to any incident reported to us to ensure public safety and minimise disruption to the local community.”
READ MORE: Dawn raids: Home Office wanted Scottish Sikh group to back removals
We asked the Scottish Police Authority (SPA), which oversees the force, whether it agreed with the decision to provide no further information. An SPA spokesperson said: “The Authority supports and respects the operational independence of the chief constable.
“Our chair received regular briefings about the policing of the events on Kenmure Street on May 13 and we expect the chief constable to outline Police Scotland’s actions and response to it during the public session of our Authority meeting next Wednesday.”
However, last week Immigration Minister Chris Philp (below) stated that an operational notification form had been issued in relation to Kenmure Street and the police “raised no concerns”.
The Home Office said: “We make no apologies for removing those who have no right to be in the UK.
“Our New Plan for Immigration will overhaul our asylum system and speed up the removal of failed asylum seekers.”
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