Asylum Seekers / Refugees

Victoria Atkins, the UK minister in charge of resettling Afghan refugees, has urged Scottish councils to house more families amid growing concerns over a lack of homes available in England. It has been revealed that the Home Office may need to use Airbnb properties as shelter for the refugees, with

A decision by the Home Office not to give money to thousands of asylum seekers to make calls to friends and family during the pandemic has been declared unlawful by the High Court. The ruling means the UK Government could be forced to roll back weekly payments for some 10,000 asylum seekers.

Midlothian Council is preparing to welcome five Afghan families, with the first family due to arrive at the end of October.

A group of social justice lawyers based in Glasgow have secured on behalf of asylum seekers in Scotland the right to access legal aid for representation in tribunal appeals, where they face eviction from housing provided by the Home Office. The Glasgow Social Justice Lawyers came together in summer

More Scottish local authorities are to assist Afghan families moving to the UK under a government relocation scheme.   Aberdeen City Council is among a number of local authorities that will support families across the UK during their temporary resettlement. 

The Scottish Refugee Council has started an Afghan Support Network to coordinate all of its members' generous offers of support for Afghan refugees. The council has offered thanks to everyone who has taken the time to contact it with kind offers of practical support for people fleeing the Taliban. I

Councils and housing associations across London are to be given support to buy former council homes from the private sector that can be used to resettle families arriving from Afghanistan The Mayor of London Sadiq Khan is expanding his new Right to Buy-back fund to help councils buy homes

Local authorities from across Scotland have signalled their intent to offer a haven to Afghans escaping the turmoil in their homeland. A number of Afghan natives, interpreters and their families are being relocated to the UK, because of the potential dangers posed to them by the Talib

Organisations and community groups working to support refugees in Scotland will share £2.8 million through a new grant scheme. In total, 56 projects will receive funding to deliver initiatives designed to help New Scots settle in their adopted communities by promoting employability, education,

Scottish Refugee Council and the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) have launched new guidance to help landlords give refugees and people seeking asylum a safe and secure place to call home. A Housing Practitioners’ Guide to Integrating Refugees and People Seeking Protection provides those w

Three homes in South Ayrshire will be made available to refugees from Afghanistan The individuals, who had to flee Afghanistan for their own safety, will be offered to help staff who worked for the UK military mostly as interpreters in the country.

HMRC was wrong to refuse a backdated claim for child tax credits for asylum seekers who had been granted refugee status, a judge in the Court of Session has ruled in the first successful social security test case for asylum seekers and tax credits in the UK.

More than 50 refugee and migrant organisations, lawyers and academics across Scotland, Wales and England have signed an open letter to home secretary Priti Patel to raise questions about the ongoing Aspen card crisis and the card contractor PrePaid Financial Services.

Ten days have now passed with thousands of asylum seekers, including several hundred in Glasgow, being left without working payment cards due to a Home Office contract changeover, writes Robina Qureshi.

A move by the Home Office to house asylum seekers in a "squalid" military barracks in Folkstone was flawed and unlawful, the High Court has found.