An all-night vigil against mass deportation of asylum seekers was held outside the Home Office building in Brand Street, Govan by Congolese asylum seekers in August.

Several of them had experienced being taken from their homes in dawn raids. One man had been aboard the aircraft chartered by the Home Office to take a large number of Congolese asylum seekers back to the Congo before legal intervention allowed him to be taken off the plane at the very last minute. ‘I was lucky,’ said Edward Mgienga. ‘A man I know who was on that flight was returned and is now dead.’

From their personal experience of living in Scotland – for as long as nine years without having their cases concluded – these asylum seekers were saying ‘enough!’

‘Our life is here’ said Jean Mulamba. ‘We are not criminals but we are being treated like criminals. We are teachers, lawyers and workers. Our children have been born here. We want to contribute here. There is war in the Congo. If we go back we’ll be killed.’