A senior Glasgow Council figure said this year the city had become a “powder keg” of tension and resentment. Locals were sick of the cost of living crisis, cuts to public services and increased charges. Increasingly, the dejected official said, the city’s asylum seekers and refugees were being blamed by the city’s far right.
Home Office blamed for disproportionate burden
The Home Office has to shoulder most of the blame for the alarming situation in Glasgow, which has resulted in the city continuing to house a disproportionate number of asylum seekers. For years, Glasgow Council and the UK Government worked in partnership to ensure people fleeing persecution could find a safe haven in the city. No other council area signed up, and the dispersal programme contributed to Glasgow’s diversity.
But as the asylum system became an unmanageable shambles, and as more focus was placed on the burden shouldered by Glasgow, dispersal was rolled out across Scotland. The figures point to some successes. Home Office contractor Mears has now managed to find accommodation for asylum seekers in most council areas north of the border.
Slow national rollout leaves Glasgow isolated
Glasgow is no longer going it alone, but the pace of the national rollout is agonisingly slow. The city is left in the outrageous situation where there were over 3,000 asylum seekers in community accommodation in Glasgow in March, while the figure for other council areas is zero. Glasgow’s figure stood at 3,489 earlier this year, whereas in Edinburgh it was a paltry 49.
The Home Office’s slow approach to national dispersal also results in refugees who have had their asylum claims approved making homeless applications in the city. Glasgow Council has had well-documented financial problems in recent years, but having to fund temporary accommodation for thousands of refugees has inflamed tensions.
Progress too slow for furious locals
The Labour Government inherited a nightmare from the Tories, and Ministers are rightly dismantling the terrible asylum hotel policy. Progress has also been made in reducing the dependency on Glasgow for dispersing asylum seekers. But the progress is not fast enough for locals who are furious with a system they believe is exploiting their city’s generosity.
