According to an article by Kirsteen Paterson in the National, the Mears Group “has now established an asylum seeker and refugee forum to improve its performance. Members of that forum, chaired by award-winning Afghan activist Abdul Bostani, include representatives of diverse communities in Glasgow. Bostani said: “Everything we have asked Mears to do, they have done.”
Really? It would be good to know whether the Chair or members of the Mears Asylum Seeker & Refugee Forum lives in Mears accommodation.
After the multiple deaths and injuries last year under the “care” of Mears group, the accommodation provider who is paid £1.2B by Home Office to accommodate asylum seekers across the U.K. this spin looks like a whitewash.
Since July 2020, Positive Action in Housing has received over 1100 recorded referrals for emergency support from Glasgow asylum seekers. The experience of the people we support cries out human rights abuses – and the Home Office is applying no brake or control over their actions in Glasgow – which could hardly be described as positive.
Robina Qureshi
Source: https://www.thenational.scot/news/19034537.home-office-blames-scottish-councils-asylum-seekers-kept-hotels/