A man detained in an immigration van for almost eight hours during a Glasgow protest on Thursday has told how he is “living with fear every single day” while his right to remain in the UK is uncertain.
Lakhvir Singh was held in an Immigration Enforcement van along with Sumit Sehdevi after officers carried out an early morning raid on a property on Kenmure Street in Pollokshields.
The early morning actions prompted the local community to stage a spontaneous protest with members of the public surrounding the van preventing it from leaving.
Chants of “let them go” could be heard from the crowds who held the van up for around eight hours before Police Scotland announced that the men would be released.
Speaking to STV News, 36-year-old Lakhvir told how the community had given him the “strength and the courage” to go forward despite the “fear” of deportation hanging over him.
Lakhvir came to Scotland for work in 2008 however his visa expired in 2016.
Applications to renew it were rejected and he had been hoping to try appealing again before the coronavirus pandemic hit.
He described how immigration officers arrived on Thursday morning without warning.
He said: “They said I had overstayed my time here and my visa had expired but I was letting them know that I did not want to go. I’m a part of the society. I have given so much to the community as well and I do not want to go.”
Lakhvir, who is known by the nickname Lucky, spoke of his worries for the future stating: “I’m very scared and I do have fear inside me because until my case has been cleared I’m living with fear every single day.
“It’s the people who have given me the strength and the courage to continue going further with this.”
His solicitor Jelina Berlow-Rahman said: “The situation in India is not good for him to return back to.”
She added: “He has his own accommodation and so he is not harming anyone at the moment.
“So I do not understand why the Home Office are moving in to detain Lakhvir Singh.”
The move was condemned by Scottish politicians including justice secretary Humza Yousaf who has written to Labour MSPs along with the Scottish Greens calling for a “progressive alliance” against the UK Home Office policies.
He said: “We can put aside our differences on Constitution & demand powers over asylum are devolved and create a system based on compassion.”
A Home Office spokeswoman said: "The UK Government is tackling illegal immigration and the harm it causes, often to the most vulnerable people by removing those with no right to be in the UK."
"The operation in Glasgow was conducted in relation to suspected immigration offences and the two Indian nationals complied with officers at all times
"The UK Government continues to tackle illegal migration in all its forms and our New Plan for Immigration will speed up the removal of those who have entered the UK illegally."
