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Glasgow Live
Glasgow Live
National
Kathleen Speirs & Holly Lennon

Glaswegians urged to take part in Kenmure Street protest documentary

Glasgow locals who witnessed the Kenmure Street protest are being urged to contribute to a documentary set to showcase the historic event.

Hundreds of selfless Glaswegians flooded into the Pollokshields road to prevent immigration enforcement officers from carrying out a 'dawn raid' on May 13, 2021. Two Indian nationals - Sumit Sehdev and Lakhvir Singh - were detained by immigration officers from the UK Border Agency who had entered their home on Kenmure Street.

Activists quickly spread the word and called for back-up to stop the van from leaving the street. Within hours, huge crowds had surrounded the van in a peaceful protest.

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A photo of the Kenmure Street protest, which took place in May last year (Andrew Milligan/PA Wire)

An eight-hour stand-off ensued between the public and police officers who had been called to the scene and formed a human shield around the van.

Over a year on, filmmaker, Felipe Bustos Sierra, is creating a documentary about the events on May 13 and wants Glaswegians with footage of the action to get involved.

The BAFTA-winning creative put out an online appeal earlier this month.

Police officers clash with protestors blocking a UK home office immigration enforcement van in Kenmure Street, Pollokshields. (NurPhoto/PA Images)

It read: "Were you at Kenmure Street on May 13? Do you have footage. smartphone or camera, of what you've witnessed that day?

"We are making a feature documentary about the day and would love to see what you can share."

Felipe directed renowned documentary, Nae Pasaran. The 2018 piece told the story of a group of workers at a Rolls-Royce factory in East Kilbride, who refused to work on Chilean Air Force parts from 1974 to 78 due to the atrocities carried out in Chile by the Pinochet dictatorship.

In Kenmure Street, signs were displayed showing solidarity with migrants and refugees while kind Glaswegians handed out bottles of water and food to those protesting.

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One stand-out participant was 'van man' who lay under the vehicle until after the men were released.

The protest came to an end when it was announced that the two men would be let go. One of the men later said how grateful he was that "fate" brought him to live among the demonstrators in Glasgow.

To get involved email kenmure@debasers.co.uk.

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