Preparing for the G8 - - - - - Caledonian University - Glasgow - 23rd April 2005 - - -

This is a country that treats asylum seekers worse than dogs, concludes Pastor Daly, a Minister for the Pentecostal Church Chiurch of Redemption, originally from Angola. Daly and his family were detained in Dungavel detention centre and nearly deported this winter. It is ironic that hunting and cruelty to animals is condemned heer, he says, but asylum seekers are degraded, locked up, drugged or handcuffed so that they can be deported - a death sentence. Seeking to flee persecution, seeking to save ones life, has become a crime.

Aamer, who was chairing the meetin, spoke briefly here about the fustration of seeing people deported for terrorism charges for spurious and ridiculous reasons, such as one man having a birthday on spetmeber the 11th. But he also noted that there were reasons to celebrate on that day - Magloire Sanu and her children had been released from detention, and were in fact in the room. They were given a standing ovation.

Rosie and her party argues consistently against the hypocricy of border that prevent poor people moving around the globe, but allow that free flow of capital. Here she argues that Scotland has both moral and practical reasons for opening her borders, and tells the story of two young children, one from Glasgow, one from Mozambique, whose conversation cuts through all the racist rhetoric surrounding the asylum and immigration debate. The boy from Glasgow asks the boy form Mozambique, "What does your father do then?" The reply is "He works in a diamond mine." "A diamond mine?!