TUESDAY AUGUST 07 2001 Protesting Kurds taunted by mob ====================== BY GILLIAN HARRIS, SCOTLAND CORRESPONDENT KURDISH refugees were pelted with stones and taunted by gangs of youths in Glasgow yesterday as they marched in protest at the murder of the asylum-seeker Firsat Yildiz. Police were forced to break up running battles as 400 protesters set off from the rundown Sighthill housing estate where Mr Yildiz, 22, was stabbed to death in what detectives believe may have been a racist attack. Hours after Kurdish protesters had staged a silent vigil outside the headquarters of the city council in George Square, Sighthill residents held a counter-demonstration, claiming that refugees are treated better than council residents on the high-rise estate. The Kurdish protesters, however, say that Sighthill has become a "dumping ground" for more than 2,000 asylum-seekers. They complain that the city council receives �20 million a year from the Government to shelter refugees and yet spends nothing to protect them or to improve conditions on the estate where local families refuse to move into empty flats. For months, they say, police and politicians have ignored accusations of racist attacks on refugee families and only agreed to a meeting yesterday after the killing of Mr Yildiz on Sunday as he walked home with a teenage friend. Aamer Anwer, a spokesman for the asylum-seekers, said: "What do you expect to happen when you dump people in one of Europe's most deprived areas without adequate resources and support? The asylum-seekers do not blame the people of Sighthill and our message to Glasgow City Council, the Government and the Home Office is that they are responsible." Mohammed Naveen Asif, a community leader who lives in Sighthill, said: "We told the council many, many times that someone would be killed but nothing was done. We don't want to have all these police in Sighthill. We want to live in a peaceful community and we want to be able to contribute to this society." The asylum-seekers were joined by hundreds of local protesters for a silent vigil in the square. Local families say that there have been 70 race-related attacks on refugees living in the area in the past 14 months. The arrival 18 months ago of 2,000 asylum-seekers from Kurdistan, Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Albania and Bosnia in Scotland's poorest constituency, where unemployment is 15 per cent, fuelled resentment among local residents. They complained about refugees getting fridge-freezers, washing machines and televisions while they waited months for repairs to dilapidated homes. Last night more than 300 residents held a counter-demonstration, surrounding an 18-story block of flats on the estate. Demonstrators, including women and children as young as five, also blockaded a road through the estate. One resident, Agnes Brown, 37, who has lived on the estate for 11 years, said: "We are sick of these refugees getting more than we do. I am sitting in a rundown flat and the council can't even afford to paint my door. These refugees get everything given to them on a plate." Charles Gordon, the leader of Glasgow council, said that he would consider the asylum-seekers' demands for more police protection, better education facilities and more integration, but he refused to accept that the council's policy of housing the majority of refugees in one area was responsible for the racial tension that led to Mr Yildiz's murder. "Glasgow City Council was not responsible for this murder. It may have been that if our efforts had been greater this murder would have happened anyway," he said. Two weeks ago members of the British National Party tried to capitalise on the growing discontent by distributing leaflets in Glasgow. Police were still hunting the two men who ambushed Mr Yildiz. Copyright 2001 Times Newspapers Ltd. This service is provided on Times Newspapers' standard terms and conditions. To inquire about a licence to reproduce material from The Times, visit the Syndication website.
