The Glasgow Girls is a group of seven young women in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

, who highlighted the poor treatment of

asylum seekers An asylum seeker is a person who leaves their country of residence, enters another country and applies for asylum (i.e., international protection) in that other country. An asylum seeker is an immigrant who has been forcibly displaced and mi ...

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 The Scottish Parliament ( gd, Pàrlamaid na h-Alba ; sco, Scots Pairlament) is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Scotland. Located in the Holyrood area of the capital city, Edinburgh, it is frequently referred to by the metonym Holyro ...

. Their story has been told in a musical and 2 documentaries.

History

The group all attended

Drumchapel Drumchapel ( gd, Druim a' Chapaill), known locally as 'The Drum', is a district in the north-west of the city of Glasgow, Scotland. It borders Bearsden (in East Dunbartonshire) to the north-east and Drumry (part of Clydebank, in West Dunbartons ...

High School in

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,

Amal Azzudin Amal Azzudin (born 1990) is a Somali-Scottish campaigner and activist who co-founded the Glasgow Girls, a group of seven young women who campaigned against the harsh treatment of asylum-seekers in response to the detention of one of their friend ...

and

Roza Salih Roza Salih (born 1989) is a Kurdish-born, Scottish politician and human rights activist. In 2005, at the age of 15, she co-founded the Glasgow Girls with fellow pupils from Drumchapel High School. The Glasgow Girls campaigned to stop the UK Border ...

. 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 A first minister is any of a variety of leaders of government cabinets. The term literally has the same meaning as "prime minister" but is typically chosen to distinguish the office-holder from a superior prime minister. Currently the title of '' ...

Jack McConnell on the matter and publicly voiced their concerns as more children at their school were being

dawn raid A police raid is an unexpected visit by police or other law-enforcement officers with the aim of using the element of surprise in order to seize evidence or arrest suspects believed to be likely to hide evidence, resist arrest, be politicall ...

ed, detained and

deported Deportation is the expulsion of a person or group of people from a place or country. The term ''expulsion'' is often used as a synonym for deportation, though expulsion is more often used in the context of international law, while deportation ...

. 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 Scottish Politician of the Year is an annual award established in 1999. It is held by '' The Herald'' newspaper in Prestonfield House, Edinburgh. Although the awards ceremony has been held once at the Royal Museum, Prestonfield House Hotel is co ...

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 Jack Wilson McConnell, Baron McConnell of Glenscorrodale, (born 30 June 1960) is a Scottish politician who served as First Minister of Scotland and Leader of the Labour Party in Scotland from 2001 to 2007. McConnell served as the Minister ...

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. Two documentaries have been made by the BBC about their campaign- ''Tales from the Edge'' won the Nations and Regions Award in the Amnesty International UK Media Awards. It took until September 2008 for the Murselaj family to be granted permanent leave to remain. Salih gained a place at

Strathclyde University The University of Strathclyde ( gd, Oilthigh Shrath Chluaidh) is a public research university located in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded in 1796 as the Andersonian Institute, it is Glasgow's second-oldest university, having received its royal chart ...

and studied law and politics. In 2014, the university announced scholarship funding for three asylum seekers to enable them to study there. Roza Salih stood for election as SNP candidate in several local and Scottish elections, and was elected as a Glasgow city councillor in 2022. On 13 May 2021 Home Office

Immigration Enforcement Immigration Enforcement (IE) is a law enforcement command within the Home Office, responsible for enforcing immigration law across United Kingdom. The force was part of the now defunct UK Border Agency from its establishment in 2008 until Hom ...

detained two men believed to be asylum seekers in Pollokshields, on the south side of Glasgow, and put them in their van. Police were in attendance, saying that they were there to maintain order, not assist in the detentions. The ''No Evictions Network'' (a campaign organizing to support people in asylum accommodation in Glasgow against evictions) called people in the same way as had been done in 2005, and a large crowd of ultimately hundreds of people, including Glasgow Girl Roza Salih, surrounded the van and prevented it from leaving. Eventually, the detained men were released.

Depiction in popular culture

In 2012, the

National Theatre of Scotland The National Theatre of Scotland, established in 2006, is the national theatre company of Scotland. The company has no theatre building of its own; instead it tours work to theatres, village halls, schools and site-specific locations, both at h ...

presented a modern musical at the

Citizens Theatre The Citizens Theatre, in what was the Royal Princess's Theatre, is the creation of James Bridie and is based in Glasgow, Scotland as a principal producing theatre. The theatre includes a 500-seat Main Auditorium, and has also included various s ...

in Glasgow depicting the life of the Glasgow Girls. The musical then had a run at Stratford East Theatre in London and returned to the Citizens in 2014 as part of the Glasgow 2014 Cultural Programme. BBC Scotland created a new musical television drama which aired on

BBC Three BBC Three is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was first launched on 9 February 2003 with programmes targeting 16 to 34-year-olds, covering all genres including animation, comedy, curre ...

on 15 July 2014. It won an award for drama at the

Royal Television Society The Royal Television Society (RTS) is a British-based educational charity for the discussion, and analysis of television in all its forms, past, present, and future. It is the oldest television society in the world. It currently has fourteen r ...

Scotland Awards 2014 and best TV drama at the

BAFTA Scotland BAFTA in Scotland is the Scottish branch of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. Formed in 1986, the branch holds two annual awards ceremonies recognising the achievement by performers and production staff in Scottish film, televi ...

awards in November 2015.

References

External links

Positive Action in Housing

THEATRE ROYAL STRATFORD EAST, NATIONAL THEATRE OF SCOTLAND, CITIZENS THEATRE, PACHAMAMA PRODUCTIONS AND RICHARD JORDAN PRODUCTIONS LTD IN ASSOCIATION WITH MERRIGONG THEATRE COMPANY (AUSTRALIA) PRESENT
{{DEFAULTSORT:Glasgow Girls Scottish human rights activists Politics of Glasgow Women human rights activists 2000s in Glasgow Drumchapel

History

Depiction in popular culture

See also

References

External links