Statement regarding the apparent triple suicide at Red Road Tower

Statement from Robina Qureshi, Director, of Positive Action in housing, a Scottish charity which supports and campaigns for refugees and asylum seekers in the local communities.

• Posted on Mar 8, 2010

Statement regarding the apparent triple suicide at Red Road Tower
Block in Glasgow

Robina Qureshi, Director, of Positive Action in housing, a Scottish
charity which supports and campaigns for refugees and asylum seekers
in the local communities, said:

"The Red Road flats has housed hundreds of refugees and asylum
seekers. We are concerned because hundreds of our clients who are from refugee communities were living in the area. Many live their daily
lives under extreme pressure for years because their lives are on hold
while they wait to hear if they will be granted leave to remain by the
UK Borders Agency. As staff, we are daily confronted with the reality
of asylum seekers coming into the office crying and upset because they have just been told they must leave the country and their money and
housing is stopped a week later. Its a big shock, having nowhere to
live, no money for food, and being forbidden to work, and its like
this for years, then they are faced with their biggest terror,
destitution, disappearing or being detained. Many asylum seekers who
report weekly to Brand Street reporting centre don't know if this or
the next week they will simply not be allowed to leave the reporting
centre and be thrown into a detention centre for months or even years before being deported. There is a great deal of mental strain and it
is normal currency for many of our service users or volunteers to talk
about ending it. So yes, we are concerned about who these people are and whether they were claiming asylum in this country, whether they
had recently been given a negative decision by the UKBA, and whether
they were our service users or volunteers".

Positive Action in Housing Ltd is a Scottish wide charity working
with communities, housing providers, voluntary organisations and faith
groups to enable everyone to have an equal chance to live in good
quality, affordable and safe homes, free from discrimination and the
fear of racial harassment and violence. They offer advice, information
and support to people from new migrant, refugee and minority ethnic
communities. We run a free, confidential and impartial casework
service for those facing poverty, homelessness, racism or poor
housing. We run a Hardship Fund and provide emergency shelter and
practical resources for destitute asylum seekers and their families.
We provide volunteering and sessional work opportunities. They support human rights and anti-racist campaigns. They inform social policy from a user-led perspective.

Background to story can be found at the link below http://news.google.co.uk/news/search?um=1&cf=all&ned=uk&hl=en&q=%22red+road&cf=all&scoring=n

^ top of page ^