Glasgow Girls

The Glasgow Girls is a group of seven young women in Glasgow, Scotland, who highlighted the poor treatment of asylum seekers whose rights of appeal had been exhausted. In 2005, the group campaigned against dawn raids, raised public awareness, and found support in the Scottish Parliament. Their story has been told in a musical and 2 documentaries. History The group all attended Drumchapel High School in Glasgow and formed in 2005 with the support of their teacher Euan Girvan, in response to the detention of one of their friends, Agnesa Murselaj. The name came from two of its members, Simerdeep Kaur,Amal Azzudin and Roza Salih. Pupils at the school signed a petition, then 26 MSPs signed a parliamentary motion praising the pupils' actions. By September 2005, their efforts had gained national attention. The girls challenged the then First Minister Jack McConnell on the matter and publicly voiced their concerns as more children at their school were being dawn raided, detained and deported. After visiting the Scottish Parliament twice, The Glasgow Girls obtained cross-party support on the issue. The group won the Scottish Campaign of the Year Award in 2005 at the annual Scottish politician of the year ceremony for their hard work. However, it did not stop them from demanding to know just what had happened to the "protocol" that Jack McConnell had promised to obtain from the Home Office that social services, education services, and the Immigration police would be consulted before any decision was made on the removal of a family.