End Hotel Detention
This blog was written before the tragic events which took place at the Park Inn Hotel on June 26th 2020.
My photographs here show a demonstration led by refugees who were forced from their homes and into Hotel Detention, and the inhumane conditions imposed by the UK Home Office and its hired service providers. These conditions greatly increased their risk of contracting Coronavirus, among other dangers to physical and mental health. In many cases, access to health care was denied. More information on the state of conditions in the hotels can be read here.
Raising awareness in this way was a last resort, but was unfortunately a matter of life or death; at time of writing, the hotel detention policy has already claimed one life here in Glasgow, and threatens hundreds more.
Sadly the aims of the demonstration have been lost in the noise created by the violence it was subjected to. Media reporting has sidelined the plight of the refugees, and in many cases has misrepresented the violence as "clashes". This is why I felt it so important to attend and help represent some of the most vulnerable people in the city. I have included some images of the unrest to illustrate the feeling of chaos that at times ensued, however I do not wish to further detract from the important message that the demonstration sought to share.
The demonstrators had three demands for the UK Home Office, on behalf of all those under hotel detention;
An Immediate improvement to hotel living conditions. Including keys to open windows for ventilation, hot drinks facilities, hand sanitiser in shared areas, access to period products, an end to communal meals.
All those moved to hotels must be returned to their own homes. Immediate arrangements made for the return of occupants to their own homes, or equivalent, safe, own-door homes.
Immediate reinstatement of financial support to all those moved to hotels. Those moved to hotels had all financial supports suspended, leaving most without any funds for essential items and costs (such as phone tops ups, hygiene products etc). Financial supports (typically £30-40 per week) must be reinstated immediately.
If you would like to lend your support to those affected by these policies, you can make a donation here, and you can find a template to write to your MP here.
The following is my own account of the events which took place at the demonstration;
In response to this relatively small, sociallay distanced, peaceful demonstration led by asylum seekers, a large group of far right thugs coordinated an attack, and I'm sad to say Police Scotland failed to prepare for the scale of the threat. The violent group gathered in George Square for over an hour, and their their aims clear with their racist chants and gestures. I feel it is important to stress that their presence had absolutely nothing to do with “protecting statues” as has been disingenuously reported by the media and a wholly irresponsible public statement from Police Scotland.
At exactly 6pm this violent mob charged into the peaceful demonstration, assaulting anyone they could reach as people scattered in fear, regrouping to prevent individuals from being chased and assaulted. After 10-15 minutes of violent chaos, the police finally established lines separating the mob from the demonstrators, who had managed to stay together, protect each other, and remain peaceful throughout.
Unfortunately, as you can see in my photos, the police forced the peaceful demonstration into a tiny area - which prevented social distancing - before forcing the peaceful demonstrators to leave. At no time was any attempt made to manage or disperse the violent mob, who Police Scotland afforded the entirety of George Square and adjacent streets to chase and attack people, including random passers-by and members of the press. This group threw Nazi salutes, sang loyalist songs, shouted slurs like n*****, p***, f*****, and displayed other deeply unpleasant behaviour. It has been a long time since I have ever seen quite this level of venomous bloodlust or gleeful hatred.
The response, or the lack thereof, from Police Scotland towards this onslaught was utterly bewildering, as a small peaceful group of rattled demonstrators who had been attacked were forcefully corralled and removed while the jeering mob who attacked them was allowed to continue their violence and destruction of George Square, completely unchallenged. It should really come as no surprise, as our city is regularly subjected to the behaviour of these groups of nazi-saluting, Union Jack waving thugs - but I am truly ashamed that because these groups of people have been dismissed and ignored for decades, they have now reached the point that they are emboldened to repeatedly occupy the city centre with unchallenged violent hatred like this.
Police Scotland’s public statement branding these two groups as “statue protectors and statue destroyers” is firstly completely irrational; no one threatens any statues in Glasgow, except those thugs who were “protecting” the statues by climbing over them and pissing against them. But by willfully conflating this organised, bigoted violence with “statue protecting”, Police Scotland play right into the hands of those far right thugs who set out to wreak havoc on Glasgow’s streets, and their hatred for marginalised groups like those demonstrating for humane living conditions.
I fear that a massive shift in both local/national policy and public perception is required to quell further displays of violence, now that this genie has been let out of the bottle.
