Two men have been arrested at a protest outside the Home Office building in Glasgow.
It is alleged some protesters demonstrating against the eviction of asylum seekers attempted to chain gates outside the building during the incident on Friday morning.
The protests came following plans to evict about 300 people who have been refused asylum by Home Office contractor Serco.
More than 20 police officers moved in after protesters stood in front of the gates and shouted at demonstrators to "move back".
One officer was heard to say: "We are asking you nicely."
Before police arrived, one organiser had declared on a loud hailer: "This is a peaceful protest and we have every right to be here."
Police Scotland confirmed two men, aged 45 and 58, were arrested for minor public disorder offences.
They have been charged, but released pending a court appearance.
As police moved in, and amidst scenes of anger and confusion, one demonstrator said: "Over 20 police, 6 police cars and and police dogs brought in an attempt to bully and intimidate a peaceful demonstration for justice!"
Another protester was heard to tell police. "That is an abuse of power," while an officer told him to ask "your guys" to move away.
As one police van left the scene of the protest, one protestor was heard to say: "Scum bags."
An officer who was standing next to him said: "Sorry, what?"
The protester said: "Did I say you? I'm in a public place...
The officer added: "You can't say what you want."
Later another officer liaised with an organiser to say: "We are happy with your protest, if you do it peacefully and within the law."
The organiser responded: "We are civilised people."
The officer said: "I'm here not only for your safety but also for the safety of the people inside."
Mohammad Asif, from the Scottish Afghan Society, claimed around 40 people took part in a "peaceful protest" during which the gates of the Government offices were chained.
"We chained the gate as a symbolic gesture - if I lock you for one day, how do you feel for one hour? And then you are destroying their lives forever," he said.
Serco said it has provided accommodation for months in some cases for those without the right to remain in the UK, without recompense from the Home Office and at a cost of more than £1 million a year, which it claimed should be borne by the local authority.
The leader of Glasgow City Council said these costs should be borne by the Home Office, and she repeated calls to Home Secretary Sajid Javid to step in and stop the evictions.
Susan Aitken also said the council's lawyers are looking at ways to "supersede" UK law to those facing eviction.
She said the council is prohibited from providing accommodation for people who have exhausted the asylum process, but uses its general power of welfare to help particularly vulnerable groups such as families and those with HIV.
She said she has instructed council lawyers to examine whether this can be extended to cover those who face having their locks changed by Serco, many of whom are young, single men.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel