Hansard

Scotland has long been a country that welcomes refugees, from Europe in the first and second wars, and later from Vietnam, Bosnia, Kosovo and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Since 2001, we have also received many thousands of asylum seekers who have made their homes here as refugees. We welcome them all and the contribution that they have made to our national life, our society, our culture, our economy and even, of course, our food.

The past 12 months have been a time of unprecedented change for refugee resettlement in Scotland. The reasons for that do not need to be rehearsed here again in detail. The tragedy of Syria is there for us all to see on our television screens. Some 8.7 million people are believed to be displaced within Syria, and more than 4.8 million Syrians—close to the population of Scotland—are now registered as refugees outside the country. Half of those refugees are children.

The scale of the suffering is barely comprehensible. Often, however, it is not the numbers that make a difference and make people sit up and take notice, but the personal stories in which we can see ourselves and our families. As we look back, we should remember that it took a photograph of a drowned three-year-old boy, Alan Kurdi, washed up on a beach in Turkey, to galvanise the world into action.

Last Sunday was the anniversary of the First Minister’s refugee summit on 4 September 2015. It was a momentous occasion on which Scottish politicians from national Government and local government, Opposition party leaders and representatives of aid agencies, humanitarian organisations and churches, as well as refugees, gathered together to show a united front and to express a commitment that Scotland would do what it could to help. That unity was vital in ensuring that Scotland was ready to act when, three days later, David Cameron announced the establishment of the Syrian resettlement programme and committed the United Kingdom to receiving up to 20,000 Syrian refugees by 2020.

Just two months later, on a dark and dreich day last November, the first charter flight of Syrian refugees arrived in Glasgow airport. I know that those who witnessed that event and the arrival of two further charter flights soon after felt that those were among the most moving and emotional experiences of their lives because, despite the terrible traumas that the refugees had suffered, people were smiling, children were playing and there were tears of joy at having finally reached a place of safety.

Fast forward a year and, for the first time, refugee resettlement in Scotland is truly national in scope. More than 1,050 people have now been resettled across Scotland. I will take some time to reflect on how that progress has been made.

The arrival of 1,000 refugees in one year would not have been possible without the work of the refugee task force, the Scottish Government, local government, the third sector—particularly the Scottish Refugee Council—refugees themselves and the United Kingdom Government. We all worked together with the clear objective of ensuring that practical measures were in place to ensure the smooth arrival and the first steps of Syrians into our communities.

The task force also considered the longer-term issue of integration, and highlighted the importance of English language learning, employability and mental health support. Those are now priorities for allocation of the £1 million that was announced by the First Minister at the conference to support the integration of Syrian refugees in Scotland. I am pleased to announce that, as part of that continuing integration, the Scottish Government will provide a further £86,000 to pilot a new peer educational approach to English language learning, to complement formal English language learning and support the development of social networks.

The arrival of 1,000 refugees would also not have been possible without the tremendous commitment of local authorities and the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities, which have throughout provided magnificent support and co-ordination. Scottish local authorities were quick to reflect the mood of the Scottish people by stating their willingness and desire to help, even though many had no previous experience of working with refugees. I also thank the many third sector and community organisations, volunteers and members of the public who have welcomed and supported refugees as they begin to rebuild their lives. It has been fantastic to see people extending the hand of friendship to their new neighbours.

I recently had the great privilege of meeting some of the Syrian refugees who have settled in Edinburgh and central Scotland. I heard from them at first hand, and I can say only that it was a deeply humbling experience. I was able to see for myself the work of the Welcoming Association, which is working in partnership with the City of Edinburgh Council to provide English language classes for Syrian refugees who are living in Edinburgh.

The people who have joined our communities are a diverse group; some had their own businesses in Syria, some were teachers and some were farmers. What they have in common now is that they all want to get on with their lives: they want to work and to rebuild a future for their families, and their children want to get back to school.

However, we cannot pretend that everything has been plain sailing. Adjusting to a new and very different country takes time, so we must recognise the difficulties that some people face. We need to learn from those. As politicians, we must take every opportunity to talk positively about refugees. We must be clear about why refugees are here and we must welcome them. We are talking about people who are fleeing war and persecution.

One issue that is raised regularly by the refugees whom we have welcomed to Scotland is family reunion. Many of them have had to leave members of their families in Syria or other neighbouring countries, and are extremely anxious about their safety. I have made it one of my first priorities to seek improvements to the family reunion process for all refugees in Scotland. I have written to the Minister of State for Immigration to highlight problems with the issuing of 30-day visas, and I am pleased to report that the Home Office is considering options to extend the validity of those visas. In addition, I want to simplify access to crisis funds for those who need initial support when they arrive through the family reunion programme. Those are important matters that I will, I assure Parliament, continue to pursue.