THE Tories have been pushing immigrants and asylum seekers to the front lines of their phoney culture war for months now, so with that in mind the resurrection of the traumatic dawn raids of the mid-2000s seems like the next logical step for a government more intent on protecting statues than human lives.

Protests broke out in Glasgow over the weekend following news that an elderly asylum seeker with heart problems had to be taken to hospital after collapsing during one such raid.

It was only after this raid that it came to light the Home Office may have been conducting similar operations in the city as far back as January.

Don’t make the mistake of assuming that cruelty is just a by-product of enforcing the UK Government’s immigration policies – cruelty is the point.

There was nothing practical about the Home Office’s proposals last year to set up processing centres for asylum seekers on decommissioned oil rigs and disused offshore ferries. Under the perpetual smirk of Priti Patel, the Tories have led a campaign to dehumanise asylum seekers and refugees for political gain.

An even better example is the case of Napier Barracks in Kent; a cramped, derelict site chosen to house asylum seekers not because it met the necessary standards needed to ensure people were treated with basic dignity and respect, but because it would achieve the opposite.

A leaked impact assessment from the Home Office revealed that more generous housing would “undermine public confidence in the asylum system” – meaning confidence that the Conservative government was maintaining its stance as tough on immigration.

Nearly 200 asylum seekers packed into the site later tested positive for coronavirus, the inhumane conditions ensuring that social distancing was impossible.

READ MORE: Anger after Home Office avoids questions on shock Scottish dawn raids

The Home Office has refused to comment on whether or not dawn raids will continue, but I suspect we know the answer. What it would comment upon, however, is also revealing.

A spokesperson from the Home Office insisted enforcement teams are able to conduct raids from 6.30am “where there is good reason for doing so”.

I’m left wondering what “good reason” there could have been for picking such a time to target a 67-year-old man who fled to the UK to protect his daughter from the threat of forced marriage by a criminal gang who had also threatened the lives of his family.

The answer is simple: were officers to arrive calmly, at a reasonable time, the fear that has been left to sink into Glasgow’s asylum seeker community would not exist.

The trauma of making people go to sleep each night wondering “will I be next?” is a barbaric tactic that’s intention is to create such a hostile environment that it would deter others from ever seeking out the UK as a potential safe haven. In response to criticism, the Home Office emphasised heavily that asylum seekers had been housed and assisted “at the expense of the taxpayer”.

This is a classic tactic of the far-right, which attempts to break class solidarity by turning us against our comrades in the hope that infighting will get in the way of forming any serious organised force, telling us to watch out for immigrants while emptying our pockets.

This is why racism and all forms of bigotry must be weeded out of our communities; it turns our natural allies into enemies.

Boris Johnson’s administration wants you turning against those with so little power that they can be pulled from their homes with no warning, while he’s free to waste £200 million on a propaganda exercise in the form of a new royal yacht.

IMMIGRATION and asylum remain reserved powers at Westminster, and that will not change while Scotland is part of the UK. Whatever offers of federalism we Scots are likely to face in the next year or two, real power over our asylum system will never be part of it.

However, that doesn’t mean there’s nothing we can do now.

Looking to the example of the Glasgow Girls, and the communities that came together for their neighbours and classmates. We can all play a role in standing with a vulnerable group of people who the UK Government are content to condemn to any number of mistreatments. So here are a few things you should know.

Immigration officers are not the police. They don’t have many of the formal powers that officers of the law do, so if you are an asylum seeker and are stopped by them in the street they have absolutely no power to hold you against your will.

You can walk away without saying a word. In fact, that’s the best course of action. You do not need to show them ID, let them search you or even tell them your name. As long as you are not under arrest, there is nothing they can do at all.

Secondly, if you see a dawn raid van in your area, in Glasgow you can call the Unity Centre immediately to report it. The number is 0141 427 7992. Whatever information you have, such as the van’s licence plate or the address that’s being raided, can be passed to the centre, which will use it to contact lawyers and politicians.

Immigration officials’ power is dependent on keeping people in the dark, whether that’s over their rights or who will be targeted next.

Scotland won’t be bullied into submission by a government using asylum seekers as another pawn in their faux culture war. Together we can protect our friends and neighbours, and behave like we like in the early days of a better nation.