Plans to house a further 149 asylum seekers in Aberdeen have triggered a political dispute over the distribution of asylum accommodation across Scotland, with the city’s Conservative MP accusing the government of placing additional pressure on local services.
The Home Office told Aberdeen South MP Douglas Lumsden that it was considering accommodation for 149 asylum seekers on St Peter Street in the city.
The department said Aberdeen already housed 707 migrants and that the proposed placements would take the city “above its service under demand plan allocation”.
The allocation system is intended to forecast asylum accommodation requirements and distribute housing and support resources according to projected demand.
Lumsden has called for the proposals to be suspended, accusing the government of using Aberdeen as a “scapegoat” for its failure to stop small boat crossings.
“These plans are a disgrace and as usual, residents have had no say on this ill-judged decision to house a further 149 asylum seekers in the city,” he said.
“Aberdeen is buckling under housing pressure, yet our city is being left to shoulder more asylum accommodation than it should be.
“It’s atrocious that both Labour and SNP Governments would gladly house asylum seekers at the expense of people stuck waiting to find a property.
“The fact is these proposals will have huge implications on our public services, including our NHS, which is already at breaking point.
“Aberdeen City Council must put a stop to these plans by ensuring the needs of its local people are put first. Aberdeen should be a place for people to live, not become a hotel for those seeking to come here by asylum.”
Aberdeen has the second-highest number of asylum seekers among Scottish local authorities, according to the figures cited in the dispute, behind Glasgow, which houses almost 4,000.
The proposed accommodation comes as Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood seeks to reduce pressure on Glasgow by redistributing asylum accommodation across Scotland.
Mahmood told the Home Affairs Select Committee that Glasgow’s high numbers were partly the result of other Scottish councils not “stepping up to play their full part”.
She said: “Just on Glasgow specifically, as I said before, very much recognise those challenges partly borne out because other local authorities in Scotland haven’t stepped up to play their full part to enable a fairer distribution across the whole of Scotland.”
She added that there had been no new procurement of asylum accommodation in Glasgow since 2024 and that the government was seeking a “fairer spread” by renegotiating rates in some areas.
“As we do that, I am looking to reduce the pressure on places that are way above their allocation to bring that down in a sustained way, so that every area is paying its full part,” she said.
Mahmood also said the government intended to use more military and medium-sized sites to ease pressure on areas above their allocations, which would be “first in line” to see reductions.
The plans have also faced opposition within Labour. MPs Joani Reid and Zubir Ahmed have previously written to Mahmood calling for asylum accommodation plans in Glasgow to be paused.
In his response to the Home Office, Lumsden said he “strongly opposes” the Aberdeen proposal and argued that the city already “takes more than its fair share”.
“The people of Aberdeen are being used as scapegoats for the continued failure of this Labour Government to stop the small boat crossings,” he wrote.
“Aberdeen already takes more than its fair share of asylum seekers. This outrageous plan completely disregards the wishes of local residents and is fundamentally unjust at a time when other local authorities across the UK do not take their fair share.”
He called on Aberdeen City Council to intervene and ensure that “the needs of local people are put first”.
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