An attempt to deport two migrants considered illegal by the authorities led to a neighborhood protest in the Scottish city of Glasgow last week, forcing the police to release the two foreign nationals.
On Thursday, May 13, an attempt in the Scottish city of Glasgow to deport two migrants considered illegal by a Home Office team led to a neighborhood protest in the Scottish city of Glasgow. The local police in turn ordered an end to the operation and released the two foreign nationals.
'Free our neighbours'
The two men were reportedly undocumented and found in an area of the city with a large Asian and Muslim community.
The two were loaded onto a Home Office vehicle that was immediately surrounded by hundreds of residents of nearby homes who took to the streets yelling "free our neighbours."
In the end, to "preserve public order" and "public health" given the gathering of people in violation of anti-COVID measures, Scotland Police -- not involved in the deportation procedures -- ordered the authorities to release the two alleged "undocumented foreign nationals" for the time being.
Central government criticised
Scottish First Minister and pro-independence leader Nicola Sturgeon defended the work of the local police and noted that she did not agree with the immigration policies of the Tory central government in London.
Blaming the Home Office she said: "This action was unacceptable. To act in this way, in the heart of a Muslim community as they celebrated Eid, and in an area experiencing a COVID outbreak was a health and safety risk."
She added she would be "demanding assurances" from the UK government so that such a dangerous situation would not be created again in Scotland.
The incident occurred amid polemics in the UK over detention cases in some centers near the London airport of youths seeking work and coming from several EU nations -- including Italy -- that were detained for several hours while waiting to be repatriated since they did not have a visa that has become obligatory on the basis of the post-Brexit crackdown on immigration under the Boris Johnson government.
In the Thursday case, however, it was not a case of EU nationals or of those stopped on entering the UK.