REFUGEES housed in the Scottish town Erskine are facing the trauma of the Home Office’s chaotic hotel exit and attacks by the far right, campaigners warned at the weekend.
Since February 2023, the Muthu Glasgow River Hotel in Erskine has been used by Home Office contractor Mears as refugee accommodation.
But the government department’s plans to vacate the site by March 5 — part of its programme to remove refugees from the hotels it has placed them in — have descended into chaos.
While it is understood that no refugees have been deported, concerns are growing for the welfare of those who remain, many of whom had been enrolled in college courses and, nearly a week on, still do not know whether they will be sent to other hotels in places such as Dundee and Greenock or housed in flats in Glasgow and Edinburgh.
The situation has proven too traumatic for some. One man is now receiving medical treatment, with the help of the local refugee support network, after he walked onto the nearby Erskine Bridge over the River Clyde with the intention of taking his own life.
Paisley and District trades council secretary Robert Parker said: “[His action shows] how much he values what we’ve done for him, and the other refugees in Erskine, by being friendly, considerate and helping them however we can — that he feels safe here and doesn’t want more uncertainty on top of what he already has to contend with.”
The human impact of the transfer has failed to sway the dwindling fascist contingent, who chose to harass the remaining residents, bolstering their banners scrawled with slogans opposing alleged “white replacement” by surrounding the hotel with abusive graffiti before solidarity activists arrived to spend their 56th Sunday at the site.
Trades council chairman Colin Mack told the Morning Star: “Local residents have still been getting down to offer some kind of support from the local community, [but] unfortunately, the nutcase fascists have been down here too.
“They’ve vandalised and spray-painted around the hotel… They say they are about the local community, but it shows how much they really care about the community when they want to vandalise and destroy it.”
A Home Office spokesperson said: “We work closely with accommodation providers and local authorities to manage the exit process in a way which limits the impact on partners and those using the service.”
