Latest news and updates
Voluntary returns project for refused asylum families will start in June
12 May 2009
A new pilot project, being launched at the beginning of June, will encourage unsuccessful asylum seeker families in Glasgow to return voluntarily to their home country.
The pilot is a partnership between Glasgow City Council, the UK Border Agency and the Scottish Government. Its aim is to reduce the need for the detention and enforced return of those families who the UK Border Agency and the courts agree do not require international protection.
The families will stay in designated flats, where they will receive targeted help to prepare for their voluntary return to their home country. They will receive dedicated family support to make sure that they realise their time in Scotland is at an end, and that they must make positive plans for a return to their home country to help build a successful life there.
Around five families will be accommodated in the project at any one time, and social workers will prepare an individual action plan for each family. A system is already in place to give help and support to refused asylum seekers who wish to return home voluntarily, but this is the first project in Scotland that brings these families together in designated accommodation to receive dedicated help.
Phil Taylor, regional director of the UK Border Agency in Scotland and Northern Ireland, said:
"We all believe that it is much better that those families who are here illegally having been found by the courts not to need our protection should go home under their own steam. That's why I'm delighted that we've been able to work with our partners here in Scotland to build on the voluntary return scheme already in operation with this pilot project, which I hope will be a success and reduce the need for enforced returns of families.
"We only detain families as a last resort when they refuse to return home, despite the courts confirming that they do not require protection. This project is a small step along the way, and it is likely that some families who fail to return home voluntarily will still have to be detained and their departure enforced. However, we are all committed to making that number as small as we possibly can and if we can eliminate the need to enforce family removals, so much the better."
John Donaldson, head of immigration & emergency services at Glasgow City Council, commented:
"We are very pleased to be able to play our part in this important project. Glasgow has been able to build up a good reputation for its work with asylum seekers and we are hopeful the family return project will be an extension of that work.
"A great deal of effort and cooperation has gone into preparing the ground for the project but it is too early to judge whether it will be successful. But we will continue to work closely with our partners and the families concerned to try and ensure this can become viable form of accommodation for those families who are expected to return home."