A UK city has been dubbed the country’s asylum seeker capital – with “unprecedented pressure” being put on housing. The current system means social cohesion in Glasgow is being damaged, critics claim, after the Home Office sent nearly 4,000 asylum seekers there. Meanwhile, hundreds of refugees with leave to remain have travelled to Scotland’s most populous city to present themselves as homeless, MailOnline reports.
The SNP run city council is set to meet with the UK and Scottish governments next week as its leader, Councillor Susan Aitken, considers urging ministers to consider pause on sending migrants. Councillor Allan Casey, Glasgow City Council’s convener for homelessness, has warned ministers that they are “putting unprecedented pressure” on the local housing system, and a failure to do more could provoke “social unrest”, the Guardian writes. “Bad actors”, the councillor added, could exploit future financial hardships on “asylum seekers and refugees”.
“We will continue to believe that asylum dispersal is good for our city, and we have been enriched by it,” he wrote.
He added: “But the system you are presiding over is damaging social cohesion here, and we want to meet with you to discuss that.”
However, Reform UK councillor Thomas Kerr thinks this is an “empty gesture”.
He said: “The SNPs declaration of a housing emergency almost a year and a half ago was nothing more than an empty gesture – since it was declared they’ve done nothing bar their usual grievance politics and blaming everyone else,” he said.
“Locally, Glasgow has the ability to streamline planning applications and make the process more attractive for investors, but instead they’ve doubled down on attacks.”
3,953 askylum seekers were sent to Glasgow by the Home Office while their applications are being considered, with 240 others in emergency accomodation.
But, since February 2024, 1,000 more people have travelled to the city from elsewhere in Britain to access its homelessness support
A government spokesperson said: “We have implemented a pilot scheme to double the move-on period, allowing newly recognised refugees 56 days to move on from the point they are served their grant of leave, while also supporting local authorities as this government clears the asylum backlog.
“There is a clear need for a smooth transition between asylum accommodation and other accommodation for asylum seekers granted leave to remain, which is why we are working to identify and implement efficiencies to support this process and mitigate the risk of homelessness.”
