LIVES are being put at risk by the Home Office’s “brutal” policy to change locks on the flat of asylum seekers and evict them without a court order, it has been claimed.

The Sunday National has heard from highly distressed asylum seekers who have been served eviction notices by private housing contractor Serco – due to expire this Friday – who claimed they were experiencing suicidal thoughts. Charities claimed their fears that people “might kill themselves” were “no exaggeration”.

The row over evicting refused asylum seekers currently living in Serco accommodation, although it is no longer paid for by the Home Office, is a long-running one. Last July, lock-change plans which threatened eviction for up to 300 asylum seekers were put on hold following legal action and a public outcry.

However, Serco announced last month it would re-start the process after winning a Court of Session case – brought by the Govan Law Centre – in which Lord Tyre found it would be acting lawfully. Govan Law Centre is appealing and separate legal challenges are in the pipeline.

Meanwhile, 30 people have been served eviction notices stating they must leave their flats this Friday. It is expected that if they do not leave, a further notice will be issued advising them locks will be changed after seven days.

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The Sunday National spoke to one woman – who we agreed to call Rahma because she is scared of reprisals – seeking refuge from an eastern African country where human rights abuses are well documented.

She is being supported by the Asylum Seeker Housing project, which believes she is vulnerable and claims that on that basis she should not have been served with eviction. Her lawyer also claims that as she is making further submissions on her case, she should not be facing eviction.

“I’m trying to submit a new case but Serco still knocked on my door with a letter telling me I have to leave on Friday,” she said. “If I don’t they will change the locks.

“When they were telling me that I just felt sick. I am not well – I have depression and I am seeing a psychiatric nurse. I just didn’t know what to say so I let them speak and they went away. My blood pressure went right up. I couldn’t think.”

The woman, who has been in the UK since 2000, has had her case refused previously and been on emergency support several times while making appeals but it was cut in January this year, leaving her faced with eviction.

“They say go back but I cannot,” she added. “I fled from there for my life. I don’t know whether my family are dead or alive. Right now, I can’t help thinking about suicide. It feels like my only option here. The Home Office can’t give me justice. I don’t know what to do. I feel like I have no future. I just want to close my eyes and not wake up.”

Anna Pearce, project worker for ASH said Rahma should not have been served an eviction notice without an assessment being made of her vulnerable state. Following last summer’s plans, a task force was set up by Glasgow City Council, which recommended that vulnerable people were identified and assessed before eviction proceedings were taken. Charities said they were not aware of this.

“There are no shelters for women and they are left vulnerable to sexual exploitation,” added Pearce. “There are others who should never have been served a notice of eviction, including two torture survivors.

“Even the Home Office is not following its own guidance on this brutal policy. It is just absurd that we are talking about who should be evicted like this. I am aware that this could sound like an exaggeration, but it’s not – I am worried that people will kill themselves.”

READ MORE: Leading lawyer to challenge all 300 Serco evictions of asylum seekers

Scottish Refugee Council asylum service manager Esther Muchena said that the charity regularly saw people facing eviction who expressed suicidal thoughts and said all staff had undergone additional training as a result. “I’m really concerned,” she added. “I think there needs to be a serious conversation around people in this situation who are expressing suicidal ideation.”

She claimed that despite repeated requests – including one from Chris Stephens, MP for Glasgow South – the Home Office had still to share its vulnerability criteria.

Paul Sweeney, MP for Glasgow North, who is supporting several constituents who are facing eviction, said: “The implication of this policy is that it risks costing lives. It’s the mental torment that people are facing that is the real problem.

“The fact that people start thinking this way is understandable. It goes back to how callous this policy is – it’s riddled with flaws and is fundamentally racist. It’s a desperately cruel way to treat people.”

Alison Thewliss, MP for Glasgow Central, added: “The lack of engagement or consultation on this matter is appalling, and there has clearly been no consideration given to the fact that many of these people have nowhere else to go, and have come to the UK fleeing persecution.

“The awarding of asylum accommodation contracts by the Home Office has been an abject failure, and it’s about time ministers considered the significant human impact that lock changes will have. I and my SNP colleagues will continue to urge them to reverse this decision without delay.”

A spokesman for Serco stressed that it is solely the Home Office’s responsibility to decide which asylum seekers are entitled to accommodation and whose mental health should be assessed.

A Glasgow City Council spokesman said: “We receive referrals from a range of sources, including Serco, to carry out an assessment of need.”

A Home Office spokesperson said: “We take the wellbeing of asylum seekers and the local communities in which they live extremely seriously.

“We have and will continue to work closely with Glasgow City Council and other partners in to ensure that those who have no right to be in the UK leave their accommodation in a safe and secure way. This has included targeted advice and guidance to those affected on how they can access further advice and support.”

They added: “We have policies and procedures in place to identify where people are vulnerable and to share information for safeguarding purposes with local authorities.”