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But the police and the immigration officials were far outnumbered on Kenmure Street on Thursday. Hundreds of local people gathered to protest the removal of the men. “These are our neighbours,” they chanted, “let them go.”
Scots residents block immigration van amid 'stand off' over Home Office raid in Glasgow.
A seven-hour stand-off ensued before it was announced that, for the time being, the police thought it wisest to release the men. There would be no detention that day.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon accused the Home Office of being “staggeringly irresponsible” for attempting to detain the men during Eid, in a Muslim community, in the midst of a serious Covid outbreak. The deeper problem, she added, was Westminster’s “appalling” asylum and immigration policy. It was time - of course - for powers over these matters to be handed over to the Scottish Parliament.