Salmond pledges end to dawn raids on asylum seekers

The removal of failed refugees and their families by immigration officials in the early hours has led to protests across Scotland and condemnation from human-rights groups.

Jack McConnell, the previous first minister, spoke out against the controversial practice, but Mr Salmond appears to have gone further, with a vow to end the raids north of the Border.

Adam Ingram, the minister for children, was in Glasgow yesterday to discuss a review of dawn raids with the city council, and Kenny MacAskill, the justice secretary, is working to take forward the SNP's policy on asylum seekers.

Campaigners welcomed the moves as an improvement on the previous Executive's position.

However, immigration is a reserved issue, and the SNP's stance could lead to yet another clash with Westminster.

The matter was brought up in First Minister's Questions by a number of Glasgow MSPs concerned about the fate of the 1,000 families who currently face removal from the city.

Mr Salmond said he would work with Westminster to end the practice. "I will do everything I can... to pursue this issue until the blight and stain of dawn raids is removed from our country," he said.

The Scottish Executive reached an agreement with the Home Office in March last year. It covered a number of issues, including enhanced disclosure checks on all immigration-service staff involved in removals where children are present and new arrangements to handle complaints against officers.

It also set out plans for a review of the family-removals process, including the timing of raids.

Bill Butler, the Labour MSP for Glasgow Anniesland, said Mr McConnell's work with Westminster had led to significant progress on improving background checks and expressed the hope that families who had been in Scotland for some time would be dealt with sensitively.

He went on: "Mr McConnell also expressed a hope, indeed an expectation, that the 1,000 so-called legacy cases would be treated in a proper and sensitive manner, resulting in many such individuals being allowed to stay."

However, Mr Salmond claimed London inaction had delayed the introduction of changes aimed at protecting the children of asylum seekers.

He said Mr Ingram was meeting Glasgow City Council to ensure the Border and Immigration Agency (BIA) were not "dragging their feet" in implementing the changes, adding: "We intend to hold the Home Office and the BIA to account for each and every element of that agreement and will press for further progress where that is required in the interests of children, families and communities in Scotland affected by these issues."

Robina Qureshi, director of the Glasgow charity Positive Action In Housing, which campaigns on behalf of asylum seekers, said Mr McConnell had failed to live up to his vow to fight dawn raids.

"The previous Executive gave lip service to these issues and nothing changed. The Home Office were able to carry out the dawn raids on a case-by-case basis without any transparency or accountability. We have families just now who face being removed without a trace," she said.

But she was confident Mr Salmond would end the practice.

"We are very, very glad that the First Minister is taking an unequivocal and strong line to see an end to dawn raids. It is what every civilised person in this country wants as well," she said.