This winter, Glasgow has seen an extraordinary upsurge in protest and direct action in response to the Government's inhumane treatment of asylum seekers living in the city. The campaign has brought the issue of dawn raids on asylum seekers' homes to wide attention and caused embarassment to politicians and officials by exposing their callousness to public scrutiny. More importantly, though, there're growing signs that it is starting to bring back hope, dignity and confidence to those people who the system has isolated and dehumanised.

The campaign's start might be dated to
the Magical
Mystery Tour during the G8, which visited links in the chain of
deportation and played a part in bringing the Home Office at Festival
Court in Brand Street, home of the Immigration Service's “Glasgow
Enforcement Unit” to people's attention (What
Happens inside Brand St). The sudden deportation of the Vucaj
family: Drumchapel High School one week, Albania the next, was the
spark that ignited public anger (Parliament
Protest and Glasgow
Demo). School pupils campaigned for the return of their friend,
were nominated for a “Campaign of the Year” Award and
used their winning speech to lambast the Scottish Executive's
treatment of families. Ministers hadn't been that embarassed at the
Politician of the Year beanfeast since – well, Mike Watson's
wee bit arson around last year. Soon another
family was deported.

After this on the 2nd
November came the first Action at Brand Street, a day-long
occupation by a group including Tommy Sheridan MSP. A regular
picket / vigil on Saturday mornings was begun by one man and has
grown substantially. However, the raids continued and so campaigners
decided to confront the problem at its source and began a series of
their own Dawn Raids on Brand Street. (First on the 21st:
Nov: report)
These are aimed at making deportations impossible, if only for that
one day, by placing the tools of repression in “administrative
detention” and shaming those involved in the traffiking of
humans back to the repressive regimes they fled from. The protesters
have come from a wide range of backgrounds: church ministers, advice
workers, a Conservative MSP, members of the Muslim community,
socialists, anarchists, liberals and more. After the first blockade
came two more in December (report: 1
and 2),
mysterious multiplying of chains on the Festival Court gates and a
Mass
Protest calling for “Arms Across Brand Street” that
attracted 200-500 people.

At the same time as this, groups within
the asylum seeking community have been organising events as well. The
Scottish African Refugee Community Association (SARCO)
held a March For the Right to Work on 12th
December. A quickly
organised protest in reaction to a threat of deportation may have
prevented removal from taking place.

This protest activity has been
described by a Home Office source as “unprecedented in the UK”
and has been discussed within the PCS union (statement).
No deportations have been reported since the blockades began but the
No Borders Glasgow group has called for an automatic response to any
further deportations. They are calling on people to gather at Brand
Street the morning after any and every deportation occurs. 2006 looks
set to be a lively year in Ibrox.

Related

http://www.openborders.org.uk