Campaign Challenges Unsuitable Housing for Asylum Seekers and Children

A coalition of campaigners and third sector organisations has recently launched a campaign seeking the closure of the Mother and Baby Unit, a facility operated by Mears to house asylum seekers and their children in Glasgow. 

Image: Freedom To Crawl

By Sam Doak

The Roof Coalition recently has launched the #FreedomToCrawl campaign. The campaign seeks to condemn and draw public attention to the conditions in which asylum seekers and their young children have been placed in recent months as well as provide a space in which resident’s complaints can be heard.

Concerns surrounding the accommodation provided by Mears relate in part to the cramped conditions within the Glasgow Mother and Baby Unit as well as residents’ assertions that they have been removed from more suitable accommodation within which they had social ties and access to community support. 

Speaking to Greater Govanhill, Meghan O’Neill, a community organiser with Shelter who has been involved with the campaign, communicated a number of concerns relating to the facility, stating: 

“It's a cramped unit that women and children are put into. One room has to be used for sleeping, playing, cooking, eating, feeding and washing all at once. Although there are some communal areas, the pandemic has meant that there has been restrictions on using them.

“There's no protection for the units’ cookers, which the cot is sometimes sitting right next to because of the size of the cramped room. It makes it hazardous for young children to play.

“The community has to share four washing machines. At the moment there are two that are broken. So for the twenty women plus their babies that are in their unit, considering that baby clothes have to be washed frequently, the mums are having to go quite a few days before they are able to wash their clothes.”

It is understood that, while restrictions have been placed on residents with the intent of minimising the spread of Covid-19, shared laundry and cleaning facilities within the unit make contact between the residents inevitable. According to #FreedomtoCrawl, these restrictions have had a negative impact on the families of residents, who have been unable to fully support those inside or spend adequate time with the children housed there because of limits on visitation. 

In order to address their concerns, The Roof Coalition has published a multi-stage plan detailing its desired outcomes. In the short term, the Coalition seeks to pressure Mears to allow an independent specialist agency to conduct vulnerability assessments within its facility and commit to a halt to the relocation of mothers and children to the unit. Ultimately, it is hoped by campaigners that Mears will agree to rehouse residents in self contained, suitable housing and progress will be made towards the goal of ending current arrangements that allow asylum seekers to be housed in privatised, substandard accommodation.  

Further information on the #FreedomToCrawl campaign including campaign updates and details on upcoming actions can be found at freedomtocrawl.org.