Must share burden of protecting persecuted

GLASGOW has a long and proud history of reaching out to asylum seekers.

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The city was alone in taking part in the Home Office dispersal scheme in the early part of the century.

Council leader Susan Aitken even says the diversity in Scotland is largely down to Glasgow being a home to people fleeing persecution.

But the figures revealed by the Record show the urgent need for the Home Office, via the Mears firm, to accelerate the rollout of dispersal to other areas. Sixteen council areas either house no asylum seekers or are responsible for one per 10,000 locals.