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Serco faces appeal over asylum seeker evictions
Lawyers acting for two asylum seekers have appealed against a high-profile ruling paving the way for outsourcing giant Serco, backed by the government, to evict hundreds of migrants in Glasgow.
A judge at the Court of Session last month threw out the case brought by the two asylum seekers against Serco and the Home Office.
In a 29-page judgement, Lord Colin Tyre said he was satisfied there was not a “relevant case”.
However, today the Govan Law Centre (GLC), which tabled the initial action, launched an appeal against the ruling.
Mike Dailly, solicitor advocate and principal solicitor at GLC, said: “GLC believes our client has reasonably good prospects and grounds of appeal.”
Under the system Serco leases flats from social landlords to house people attempting to claim refugee status in the UK, with the rent paid for by the Home Office.
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Last year the outsourcer begun the process of seeking repossession orders on 329 Glasgow flats occupied by asylum seekers whose attempts to claim refugee status had failed.
The case was brought last August in the name of Kurdish-Iraqi national Shakar Ali and Kurdish-Iranian national Lana Rashidi.
The asylum seekers argued that Serco was not legally allowed to evict them without obtaining a court order. Lord Tyre, however, ruled that this does not apply to asylum seekers because they can appeal to an immigration tribunal against a decision to terminate their accommodation.
Serco was criticised by housing associations in Glasgow last summer over the move. Glasgow City Council and seven MPs also warned that the evictions would trigger a “humanitarian crisis” leaving vulnerable men, women and children destitute.
Charity Positive Action in Housing is backing the appeal.
Robina Qureshi, its director, said: “We strongly support this appeal against the Court of Session judgement and have committed to working with Govan Law Centre, and supporting those families involved in the appeal with crisis support.
“Frankly it is impractical for someone trying to resolve their legal status, and who is being forced out of their home in a matter of days, to get recourse to the first-tier tribunal.”
The charity also claimed that Serco had restarted the process of so-called “lock change” evictions based on a letter it has obtained.
However, a Serco spokesperson denied this claim to Inside Housing, they said: “We haven’t restarted lock change evictions.
“It’s a letter reminding them they are no longer entitled to the accommodation.”
Serco’s contract to provide housing for asylum seekers in Scotland ends in September, at which point Mears will take over.
