Glasgow Dawn Raid Protest Last Sunday
Tim Waterstone | 13.12.2006 16:43 | Anti-racism | Migration | Social Struggles
Last Sunday, 30 protesters gathered early at the gates of the Reporting Center at Brand St. The previous 2 Sundays had seen dawn raids against families in the Red Road and Kingsway areas of Glasgow. Despite one raid being thwarted, in the last fortnight 2 families and including 6 small children were torn from their communities.
So people arrived at 6am, despite shocking weather, to keep a watch for the vans leaving on another twisted mission. Thankfully all was quiet and it was apparent that nothing was going to happen this morning.
The most notable thing was the presence of two incompetently undercover cops. Arriving dead on time, with smart shoes, they chose to stand apart from the crowd to stay next to the gate. Friendly attempts at conversation weren't reciprocated and folks' suspicions grew when the security guards (never noted for their friendliness to the people putting their actions under scrutiny) passed them an umbrella. What clinched it though was when one spoke to the guards at the same time as the other went to talk to the police car.
They looked wet and miserable, we laughed at them and I don't think they'll be back.
In contrast to other recent protests, the only overt police presence was a single patrol car, another clue that no raids were planned for that morning. The policewoman from that shuffled around asking "aren't you cold?" and "how long do you think you'll be today?", "what does your banner say?"
The demo wound up after an hour, on the prompting of an individual I didn't recognise but apparently is a real person. I was a bit nervous about him declaring "no dawn raids have happened today" well before the sun came up, but it turned out to be true.
Once again a wide cross-section of Glasgow society came out and expressed their disgust at Home Office policy. Are the politicians listening? Probably not, but the more asylum seekers and their friends stand together, the stronger we become and the harder to remove.
We ALL belong to Glasgow!
The press release is here:
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2006/12/358093.html
The most notable thing was the presence of two incompetently undercover cops. Arriving dead on time, with smart shoes, they chose to stand apart from the crowd to stay next to the gate. Friendly attempts at conversation weren't reciprocated and folks' suspicions grew when the security guards (never noted for their friendliness to the people putting their actions under scrutiny) passed them an umbrella. What clinched it though was when one spoke to the guards at the same time as the other went to talk to the police car.
They looked wet and miserable, we laughed at them and I don't think they'll be back.
In contrast to other recent protests, the only overt police presence was a single patrol car, another clue that no raids were planned for that morning. The policewoman from that shuffled around asking "aren't you cold?" and "how long do you think you'll be today?", "what does your banner say?"
The demo wound up after an hour, on the prompting of an individual I didn't recognise but apparently is a real person. I was a bit nervous about him declaring "no dawn raids have happened today" well before the sun came up, but it turned out to be true.
Once again a wide cross-section of Glasgow society came out and expressed their disgust at Home Office policy. Are the politicians listening? Probably not, but the more asylum seekers and their friends stand together, the stronger we become and the harder to remove.
We ALL belong to Glasgow!
The press release is here:
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2006/12/358093.html
Tim Waterstone
