ASYLUM seekers are being forced to self-isolate in a Scottish hotel with little opportunity to exercise or get fresh air after one man tested positive for Covid-19, it has been claimed.

Campaign group Positive Action in Housing said 54 asylum seekers from countries including Syria, Iran, Iraq and Yemen, were told to self-isolate by Home Office accommodation contractor Mears Group - including those who are fully vaccinated and asymptomatic - while staff were free to come and go.

The group were moved into the Hotel Cladhan, in Falkirk, last week and PAIH said there appeared to be growing unease amongst them about the amount of control Mears had over their freedom of movement.

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One resident said: “I’m locked in self isolation even though I’m fully vaccinated since September ... we were told by a Mears official that any person who is fully vaccinated or not showing symptoms will not require any self-isolation, but the tone changed the same day where all of us were forced to stay in rooms and self-isolate.”

Another wondered: “Why do the staff not have to self-isolate? They have been in close contact with us. They live here. Why only asylum seekers? It's unfair.

"I am fully vaccinated with no symptoms, but I have been forced to self-isolate with others. Some of us have been threatened with the police if we try to leave our rooms.

“It is easy to say, ‘go to your room’, for 10 days. They do not know the suffering that we have in here. It is not easy to stay in a room 24 hours a day.

“We’re not working, we’re not studying, we have no activities, every day we just sleep, we don't want to get depressed.”

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The resident said they had been given a number to call if they wanted to leave their rooms, but their phones had not been topped up.

They added: “The rules keep changing, they said you're only allowed to leave for fresh air if you are a smoker. I don't smoke. So should I smoke in order to leave the room to get fresh air?”

PAIH director Robina Qureshi, said: “Both staff and asylum seekers reside in the hotel, yet only asylum seekers have been forced to self-isolate.

“Asylum seekers who are fully vaccinated and have no symptoms are also not allowed to leave their rooms.

“There is growing unease about the whole situation. People who are already at crisis point are being forced to suffer more.”

Anne McLaughlin, the SNP’s Shadow Spokesperson on Immigration, Asylum and Border Control, told The National that anyone in the hotel – asylum seeker or staff member – must follow the same rules and must be treated the same.

She said: “The rules are pretty clear. Unless it’s the Omicron variant, if you’re double vaccinated (and many of the asylum seekers are) and you are identified as a close contact of someone who has tested positive, you must get a PCR test. If you then test negative you can go about your business.

“If it is the Omicron variant, then yes you do need to self-isolate for 10 days regardless of vaccination status, but I’m not aware that it is this variant.

“And regardless, I can’t imagine all 50 people living at the hotel have been identified as close contacts of the person who has covid unless they’re all sharing one room. And it still doesn’t explain why the staff are able to come and go.”

Glasgow immigration lawyer Usmann Aslam said the most important issue was ensuring we treated asylum seekers as human beings and not numbers subject to arbitrary decisions on their welfare.

“As the BBC and I helped expose last year in the Dispatches Documentary there was an embarrassing failure to house these vulnerable people properly," he said.

“This led to suicides. Now we are seeing even children being put into hotels and this is in my view arguably a breach of a duty of care.

“Moreover, I have introduced a company who is more than capable of provide adequate housing for those fleeing war and persecution and is disappointing that the proposal has still not moved forward. I intend to bring this to the attention of the Scottish Parliament.

“Whilst I appreciate that in an ideal world, this ought to be done at UK Government level, to those are claiming to 'stand and fight alongside refugees', what I say is that we have an alternative solution now, let's use it. 

“The people, including children needing sanctuary deserve a proper roof over their head now. We need to put their considerations before our own. That is what also makes Scotland so different.” 

Mears said they had a plan in place to manage Covid at accommodation sites, which had been developed through working with public health officials and Health Protection Scotland, which all followed all government guidelines.

They also denied that service users had been “forced” to isolate, and said their approach was to offer them advice and guidance.

A spokesperson said: “We advised 15 service users on site to isolate until we could arrange tests, this was either due to them being close contacts or symptomatic.

“All service users who have been asked to isolate have been co-operative and are working well with our staff on site. All other service users and staff have taken tests on public health advice.

“Whilst isolating we continue to support service users, undertake daily welfare checks, provide all meals, snacks and drinks to their rooms and provide additional Covid guidance (Drs of the World) in their preferred language.

“We completely understand that self-isolating is difficult for our service users, as it is for anyone who is asked to do this.

“When we receive test results back, we will review the situation again with public health officials.”