Asylum support and accommodation is a public service provided to vulnerable residents in Scotland.
We want it to be managed by Scottish public service providers, not by private companies.

Please add your name to endorse our request.

The Home Office is going to send asylum seekers to all Scottish Local Authorities on a mandatory basis.

People who seek asylum are excluded from most mainstream public services including housing and homelessness services, welfare, and social care. Instead, they are entitled to limited support through Asylum Support and Accommodation.

Asylum Support and Accommodation is a public service that is contracted by the Home Office to for-profit private companies valued at approximately £4 billion over 10 years. It is not managed by the Scottish Government or by Scottish Local Authorities.

This profiteering system that is currently in place is an eye-watering waste of public resources, but it has also proven to be extremely harmful and unsafe for individuals who are subject to the system and for our cities and communities – see the Park Inn tragedy in Glasgow.

  • We ask for Asylum Support and Accommodation to be managed by Scottish Local Authorities and the Scottish Government, and not by private companies.

  • Instead of contracting private companies, we ask the UK Home Office to provide full-cost funding directly to Scottish Local Authorities and the Scottish Government to be responsible for the provision of Asylum Support and Accommodation in Scotland.

Please read our full proposal here.

Please add your name to endorse our request.

Signatories

  • Prof Alison Phipps, UNESCO Chair for Refugee Integration through Languages and the Arts & Ambassador to Scottish Refugee Council

  • Sabir Zazai, CEO, Scottish Refugee Council

  • Dylan Fotoohi, Director, Refugees for Justice

  • Jen Ang, Co-founder & Director, Just Right Scotland

  • Traci Kirkland, Head of Charity, Govan Community Project

  • Aaliya Seyal, CEO, Legal Service Agency

  • Pinar Aksu, Maryhill Integration Network

  • Debora Kayembe, Human Rights Lawyer and Activist

  • Dr Teresa Piacentini, Senior Lecturer, University of Glasgow

  • The RSE Young Academy of Scotland

  • Gillian Wilson, CEO, Community InfoSource

  • Alison Watson, Director, Shelter Scotland

  • Sonya Sceats, CEO, Freedom from Torture

  • Laura Keith, No Recourse, North East Partnership

  • Dr Steve Kirkwood, Senior Lecturer in Social Work & Director of Postgraduate Research, The University of Edinburgh

  • Annika Joy, CEO, Safe in Scotland

  • Dr Shawki Al-Dubaee, Chair, United Yemeni Community in Scotland

  • Siraj Balubaid, Leader at Refugees for Justice & General Secretary for United Yemeni Community in Scotland

  • Sian Summers-Rees, Chief Officer, City of Sanctuary UK

  • Very Rev Dr Susan Brown, Convener of the Faith Impact Forum, The Church of Scotland

  • Sabine Chalmers, Co-ordinator, Scottish Faiths Action for Refugees

  • Jessica Paterson, Chair, Friends of Scottish Settlers (FOSS)

  • Samar Ziadat

  • Lucy Nabijou, Coordinator, Haringey Welcome

  • Helena Cullen

  • Lauren Roberts, Secretariat Coordinator, Secretariat of UNESCO Chair in Refugee Integration Through Languages and the Arts

  • Nicoline Kure

  • Sue Wyllie

  • Natalie Weir

  • Andy Hermit

  • Annie Paterson

  • Catriona Milligan

  • Rhona McCluskey

  • Grace Buckley

  • Amanda Bogle, Social Media/Marketing, Gilded Lily Inspiring Enterprise CIC

  • kim flower

  • Heather Hilditch

  • Mary Macleod, Director, Gilded Lily Inspiring Enterprise CIC

  • Mary Sneddon, Project Manager, Gilded Lily Inspiring Enterprise CIC

  • Rebecca Farrington

  • Lily Evans