Test case to launch against Glasgow refugee evictions
Interim interdict will be sought in the Court of Session today in a test case brought by one of 330 asylum seekers threatened with eviction from their accommodation in Glasgow.
Govan Law Centre will seek to prevent private landlords Serco and the Home Secretary frommaking their client homeless by changing the locks on the property provided.
Serco advised it would take this step as the Home Office was no longer funding the accommodation of the tenants concerned. Some have had their claims for asylum refused but around 100 will have leave to remain in the UK.
A legal issue has arisen over whether protections for tenants in the ordinary law against such acts also apply to housing for asylum seekers. Govan Law Centre allege that Serco would be acting illegally in changing the locks, which Serco denies.
Glasgow City Council has said it is not allowed to provide housing to former asylum seekers, and evictions would lead to a "humanitarian crisis".
Calling for the human rights of those concerned to be respected, Judith Robertson, chair of the Scottish Human Rights Commission, said: "No person, especially people already in precarious and vulnerable situations, should be deliberately left destitute and homeless.
"The Commission is deeply concerned about the human rights of people seeking asylum and those granted refugee status who are facing eviction from their homes in Glasgow. Both the UK Government and the private firm, Serco, have human rights obligations and responsibilities to these groups. In particular, the UK Government has an obligation to ensure rights are upheld not only in law and policy, but through relevant procurement and contractual arrangements.
"Everyone has a right to a private and family life, to be free from inhuman or degrading treatment and, in terms of international law, a right to adequate housing. Locking people out of their homes, leaving them destitute and vulnerable on our streets, is a clear violation of these human rights responsibilities."