Glasgow Knife Attack: Asylum Campaigners Mark Anniversary

Asylum campaigners have marked the first anniversary of a knife attack at a Glasgow hotel which left six people injured, including a police officer.

Attacker Badreddin Abadlla Adam, aged 28, from Sudan, was shot dead by police in the incident at the Park Inn.

Campaign group Refugees For Justice called for an inquiry into the decision to house asylum seekers in the hotel.

It said the tragedy was a “direct result of the problematic UK asylum support and accommodation system.

The Home Office said it was necessary to use the Park Inn as temporary accommodation for asylum seekers during the Covid fiasco.

Refugees For Justice gathered in the city’s George Square where they laid flowers, lit candles and read poems.

Concerns had previously been raised over living conditions. Migrant charity Positive Action in Housing said that many people claimed to have no windows or fresh air in rooms.

Glasgow City Council is the only local authority in the country to take in asylum seekers through the UK government’s dispersal scheme.

Earlier this month, UK media reported that there were still 200 asylum seekers living in hotels across the city.

Council leader Susan Aitken said a ban on accepting new asylum seekers would continue while the asylum-housing scheme was run “on the cheap” by the housing firm Mears Group, which runs a reported £1 billion a year refugee housing contract for the UK government.