Advice funding for asylum seekers under homelessness threat

Nearly 150 asylum seekers in Glasgow who are threatened with homelessness will receive intensive advocacy support from local organisations, supported by a further funding package from the Scottish Government.

Ministers have announced a £252,000 funding package to organisations to help ensure asylum seekers have access to legal professionals and other services.

Last year, the Government provided £150,000 of emergency funding to strengthen local advocacy support for destitute asylum seekers at risk of eviction. The money helped to reduce the number of people at risk of eviction from a peak of 330 when planned lock change evictions were first announced.

Further funding proposals for longer-term strategic projects are also being developed.

Communities Secretary Aileen Campbell commented: "We all have a moral duty to help those most in need, and we want to provide a humanitarian response to the plight of people facing eviction and homelessness. This funding will ensure advocacy and legal support are available for those who desperately need it and ensure people’s dignity and rights are respected."

She called on the UK Government "to finally find a long-term, sustainable and humane alternative to the asylum process", adding: "I will be writing to UK ministers to remind them of their role to not make anyone who has sought safety in this country homeless and destitute."