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Season 2 episode 4 of the Resist + Renew podcast, where we interview Savan from the No Evictions Network.

“Evictions, arresting people, kidnapping them – it has a long history… undermining human rights, disrespecting human beings”

- Savan

Show notes, links

No Evictions Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

A few extra links:

No Evictions' statement after the raid in Kenmure Street. A Guardian article summarising ("Glasgow protesters rejoice as men freed after immigration van standoff") and an interview with an NEN member ("Kenmure Street's 'van man' speaks out after protest in Pollokshields").

A site from NEN highlighting the conditions in asylum accommodation.

Transcript

ALI

This is Resist Renew,

KATHERINE

the UK based podcast about social movements,

SAMI

what we're fighting for, why and how it all happens.

ALI

The hosts of the show are

KATHERINE

Me, Kat.

SAMI

Me, Sami,

ALI

and me, Ali.

SAMI

I'm recording this now, baby!

ALI

Shit, it's a podcast!

KATHERINE

Okay, so here we go. Welcome to this episode of the Resist Renew podcast. Tonight we're really glad to be joined by Savan from the No Evictions Network. Savan is originally Kurdish, he joined the No Evictions Network in January 2021. He's a student studying Political Economy and Philosophy, as well as being a human rights activist and campaigner. Welcome. It's so great to have you tonight.

SAVAN

Thank you very much, Katherine. And Sami, thank you for having me.

KATHERINE

Great.

So we're gonna start with the first question, which is: What is the political context that you're organising in? Can you tell us a little bit about that?

SAVAN

Yes, in general, well, I, I suppose answer on behalf of No Evictions, so what No Evictions does at the moment, we concentrate on a few things. One of them is basically what we stand for is No Evictions. We're trying to see, we don’t want to see any eviction in Glasgow, in general because that's our capacity in Glasgow, but also we're trying to influence other organisations to do the same around Scotland and even in the UK.

We're focusing on that, and also the new Immigration Bill’s one of the things I'm focusing on. I've got a group, we are trying to resist as much as possible and trying to raise awareness and also influence, influence the politicians to stand up against the Immigration Bill. And one of the things it was I'm sure you both familiar with the Kenmure Street event it was trying to obviously was about eviction and arresting people during the Muslim celebration. Trying to put two people again in the van and stuff like that, so we have a group monitoring the immigration van and trying to be there for them be there for the people who are at risk to be you know, we call that kidnapping in our you know, a way to say kidnapping and actually taking them to somewhere we don't know and nobody else know. And we have a group focusing on raising awareness in East Ends and in those areas we focus in on those areas mainly refugees and asylum seekers learning.

And we trying to get in touch with the community, basically, be trying to raise awareness from the local community with the shop and you know, the neighbours and all of that. So we're trying to let them know that's what's going on. If you notice something please give us a call or please stand up, you know, we're trying to hold them off to we're going to be there. And we're trying to, you know, save lives as much as they possibly can. So that's what we mainly broadly we focus in on.

KATHERINE

Thanks so much for sharing, it sounds like really varied work as well that you're doing: both like on the ground stopping the kidnapping from happening, but also this raising awareness within the community so more people know. And, and for people that maybe are a little bit less familiar with what's going on with the immigration system and with evictions, more generally, could you just share a little bit for us about, kind of, what's, what's happening at the moment: why why is this resistance needed?

SAVAN

Yes, sure. So we have, we have a broken immigration system, we have a very broken immigration system. And in recent years and under Priti Patel the Home Secretary it’s going to be more broken and demolished. So if eviction and arresting people and kidnapping them has been, it has a long history, actually: it’s not, it’s not a new thing. I know Camera Street highlighted that than any other time. But it's been happening and it was happening and it's still happening.

So basically what they've done is a people with ‘failed asylum seekers’, ‘failed asylum seekers’ are those people where they've been here for 10 years, over 10 years, though they're undocumented migrants. And so, what the Home Office do, you know, usually they don't even send a notice for for the applicant for the person. So they just go to their house: six o'clock in the morning, four o'clock in the morning. They simply go you know, they rack into a terror event, you know what I mean? So so they go, they're arresting them while they're sleeping, with no respect for their human rights and nothing like that. Put them in a van without letting them know where they go, how they go. All of all of this kind of stuff.

So they completely undermine the human rights and the human rights and they completely disrespecting human beings in general. And those people, at the end of the day, might not have a piece of paper say they’re legal, so to speak. But they have blood in me, like all of us, so they're human and they need to be treated as the way we all been treated.

Even if you takes llegal action, do it in a legal way that you normally do for any other human being any EU citizen. So they make a big difference. They treat this human being just because they're not citizen, a citizen or they don't have citizenship, they don't hold any citizenship. They treat them like very inhumanely; but whereas you know, in compare in, you know, in contrary, they treat other people, rightly with the justice system with legal. Let them know, give notice: that's the court date, that's where you're going to go. All of these information, they don't have these things and sometimes they go… ah, no, I talk too much, please stop me when whenever you want.

KATHERINE

No, it’s great.

SAVAN

So they put them in a deport centre without letting them know, without having a legal access. And even nowadays with new immigration law they’re trying to take so many more rights, legal rights away, they cannot challenge that. So I would like to stop.

SAMI

Amazing. Thank you, Savan. And I think firstly, no, please, please talk as much as you like. I think we're definitely enjoying it. Yeah, thank you for that information about like, the broader context, the current like immigration system and things like that. Because and I think it's really important what you said that, I also agree that people can act as if, if like evictions, like detention, deportation, all of these things can can be considered to be like quite like ‘new’ things and people will talk about the ‘hostile environment’ and so I think it's really important to make the point that like these things have been going on way longer than the phrase ‘the hostile environment’ in the UK. For decades, if not longer, depending on what kind of stuff you’re bringing into scope. So I think it's really important to ground, ground ourselves in that when we think about it.

So you said a little bit about No Evictions Network and the work you do, and you talked a little bit about having some like Glasgow-focused work because you're there's at least some kind of link with Glasgow in the No Evictions Network but please correct me if I'm wrong. But also you mentioned some wider stuff around, like, Scotland and maybe the wider UK and things like that. So could you say a little bit more about, like, what like, what what does your organisation kind of like focus on and what you're about. Like, is it a Glasgow thing, it is a Scotland thing, is it a UK thing, like: what do you see as the focus of the group?

SAVAN

Very good question! So we have, so we basically work on events and on necessity. For example, in Glasgow we have the highest number of refugees compared, for example, to Ayrshire. In Ayrshire for example, we might have five or six refugees here. Although we are not thinking about ignoring them just because they are less numbers, though, out-numbered. But so the main focus is on Glasgow because, just because of the high number of refugees, and obviously when there is a high number of refugees and asylum seekers there will be a high number of events and incidents.

But in terms of broad work together, when it comes to, for example, when the issue requires more collaboration for example, we had an act that we were working with every organisation in the UK, from London, Manchester around the UK, Edinburgh, all of Scotland, Wales, so it was it was gotten very y’know, collective. It was a it was against Mears Group so we're trying to expose the you know the managers and stuff like that. So for that, it was collection work around all around the UK, because Mears Group also had a house in, for example, in Manchester and places like that. So we have shared values and organisation came together.

Obviously, unity is one of the things we are focusing on, we’re trying to be united we’re trying to be an organisation to come together because I think together we have stronger voice and we have stronger influence on, on the policy, on, on, on government. So, but when the situation only requires one particular area, for example, in Glasgow,