Eviction of refugees ignites row with Home Office

THE three Iranian Kurds who sewed their lips shut in protest at being refused asylum have been served eviction notices by Glasgow City Council and will become homeless on Monday.

Fariboz Gravindi, 30, Mokhtar Haydary, 34, and Faroq Haidari, 32, undertook a four-week hunger strike earlier this year.

Benefits provided by the National Asylum Support Service (NASS) will now be stopped, despite the fact the men have not been offered travel home to Iran, leaving them destitute and dependent on neighbours and friends for accommodation and food.

A Sunday Herald investigation has discovered that their fate has become the subject of a furious row between the Home Office and Glasgow council. the Home Office claims that the council should provide them with emergency accommodation, while the council is adamant that it is not responsible for the men, and no funding has been provided to care for them.

The Home Office said yesterday that if there was an intervening period between evictions and flights then "local authorities should provide emergency accommodation".

However, David Gormley, of the city's asylum-seekers support team, in a statement said: "The only way the council can assist people evicted at the Home Office's request is if they have children, or if they are in need of community care. We have no funding and have made no provision for the housing of people evicted by the Home Office."

A spokesman from the Home Office said: "NASS has provided support for asylum-seekers through applications and appeals and if unsuccessful then they have no right to remain. NASS is only there to support people in that process - no more."

The spokesman would not speculate on whether the political situation in Iran, referred to as part of the "axis of evil" by George Bush, was the reason behind the lack of transport orders sent to the refugees.

A highly placed council official, who did not want to be named, blasted: "This is totally ridiculous. The Home Office cannot make us evict people on one hand, not provide a way home for these refugees and then expect us to house them. It's terribly unfair on them."

Gravindi, Haydary and Haidari went on hunger strike after their asylum applications were turned down. All are frightened of being tortured or executed if they return to Iran.

Margaret Woods, of the Glasgow Campaign to Welcome Refugees, said the situation was "very worrying".

"They have not received anything to tell them when to go back to Iran - we assumed that the Home Office had halted deportations to Iran because of the danger it poses to returning refugees." Woods added that around 170 refugees are destitute in Scotland, and that evictions are expected to rise.

The Scottish Executive refused to comment on the row, or on the rising numbers of homeless refugees, saying: "It is a matter for the Home Office."

Bishop John Mone said the situation for these men and others is becoming intolerable. "The hope seems to be that by making these three destitute that they will leave the UK. It's a dreadful situation without compassion or any humanitarian concerns being displayed by anyone in power."

Rev Alan McDonald, convener of the Church of Scotland's church and nation committee, also condemned the move. "After all these men have gone through it seems extraordinary that they might end up sleeping rough. The way we treat the stranger and the refugee is a key measure of the health of any society."

SSP MSP Rosie Kane, who has been an active campaigner throughout their ordeal, said that the policy of making refugees destitute was "breathtaking in its nature". She added: "All the government is doing is increasing homelessness and putting vulnerable people into dangerous situations."

Copyright 2004 SMG Sunday Newspapers Ltd.
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