The Use of Teachers and Social Workers in the Removal of Asylum Seekers

That the Parliament is concerned that teachers and social workers may soon be required to oversee the removal of asylum seeker families from Scotland; acknowledges that the current situation whereby asylum seeker families are subjected to dawn raids and all they entail, including the dragging of children from their beds, the handcuffing of parents, giving parents 20 minutes to pack their belongings and the separation from friends, family, schools and community, is unacceptable; believes that it is not the job of teachers and social workers to take part in this cruel and unnecessary practice, dictated from the Home Office in London, which potentially sends people into danger, rape, torture, imprisonment and death; notes that a solution to these brutal dawn raids would be for the Scottish Executive to realise and harness the potential, positive impact, skills and much-needed population boost our asylum seekers bring to Scotland; considers that people who come to this country in pursuit of freedom, democracy and safety should be welcomed and encouraged, setting an example to the rest of the world in relation to basic humanity and compassion, and believes that the support that the Executive is proposing to provide for asylum seekers in preparing them for return to their home countries does not change the fact that they may still be subjected to torture and imprisonment when they arrive.