Hansard

This is a subject close to my heart and, as Jackson Carlaw has done, I commend the Scottish Government for choosing it for debate in this first week after the parliamentary summer recess. I acknowledge that the First Minister has taken the lead on the refugee task force.

All the amendments before us have something important to say. The Labour amendment, which I will move, seeks to put forward a commitment to put support for refugees on a statutory footing. That is well within the competence of the Scottish Parliament and would allow a national approach to be taken.

The Parliament welcomes the 1,000 refugees who have been received by Scottish local authorities across Scotland, although that figure is nothing in comparison to the 10 million or 11 million Syrians who, as Ross Greer said, have been displaced since the civil war began. The figure of 1,000 refugees is significant, however, in terms of Scotland setting an example for the rest of the UK. Scottish local authorities have risen to the challenge of addressing the plight of Syrians: North Lanarkshire and South Lanarkshire have taken 100 refugees, and Dundee, Renfrewshire, Moray and many other local authorities have risen to the challenge too.

When I was preparing for the debate, I detected a bit of nervousness around publishing the exact figures. Perhaps, as Jackson Carlaw said, there is a bit of nervousness about the subject—that can always be the case. I want to set out why I think that it is important that Scotland does its bit, particularly when it comes to Syrian refugees.

This year, the number of people displaced by conflict and persecution is at a historical high of 60 million, 20 million of whom are classed as refugees. We are witnessing probably one of the worst human disasters of all time, and the scale of suffering is still pretty impossible to assess. The crisis has challenged every aspect of public policy, our humanitarian response and our delivery of services to vulnerable people. A staggering 86 per cent of refugees are hosted by developing countries—that is surprising—and one in four people who live in the small country of Lebanon is a refugee.

The Syrian civil war is the most dangerous and destructive crisis on the planet. Since early 2011, hundreds of thousands have died and, as I said, 10 million have been displaced. Europe has been convulsed by Islamic State terror and the political fallout of the refugee situation. The United States and its NATO allies have more than once come perilously close to direct confrontation with Russia. Foreign interventions that were intended to end the war have, in fact, entrenched it, with severe and indiscriminate attacks on civilians.

Unfortunately for Syrians, Syria is a battleground for an enormous regional power struggle, with a Government that has not spared its own people. Innocent civilians are left helpless. Syria as a country may not even survive the conflict, as the cities are ravaged with no safe places.

Unfortunately, this is not a short-term crisis. I believe that history will show that it has probably been the worst humanitarian disaster of our lifetime.

As the minister has said, we have seen many disturbing images, including those of Alan Kurdi and Omran Dagneesh from Aleppo. They were little boys who died, but we know that many other children have died in similar circumstances.

In 2010, prior to the civil war in Syria, I visited Yarmouk camp in Damascus, which was the largest Palestinian refugee camp. I met refugees from the 1948 and 1967 displacements. Men and women longed to return to their homeland. Many of them are displaced for a third time. Members will have seen the footage of Yarmouk camp being besieged by the fighting, almost two years after I was there. There were desperate pleas from humanitarian groups, but they could not even get into the camp to deliver vital aid and stood outside.

In the past 10 years or so, I have visited many refugee camps, including in Gaza, Lebanon, Syria and the West Bank. However, the jungle in Calais is among the worst that I have been to. I add Labour’s voice to what the minister has already said about the need to invest in a 13m wall in Calais. That is the wrong answer to a human problem.

In the Bekaa valley towards the Syrian border, I met men and women who told of what they left behind. They were not necessarily poor—indeed, many of them were wealthy—but they had to leave their homes. Most refugees I talked to will tell people that they long for the day when they will be able to go home.

In Calais this year, I met Najim, who was an unaccompanied eight-year-old boy. I knew that his parents were in the United Kingdom, and I set out to search for them. As I campaigned, I had absolutely no idea that thousands of children were unaccompanied and without their parents. I was very disappointed that the Dubs amendment in the House of Lords, which tried to specify the number of children whom we would accept and was supported by Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the Scottish National Party, was defeated.

I feel quite strongly about the issue. UNICEF says that there are thousands of unaccompanied children in Greece and all over. Like Stella Creasy MP, who has raised the issue in the House of Commons, I do not want to see children in refugee camps—I do not suppose that any of us does. Unfortunately, since the Dubs amendment was considered, only 40 children have been allowed into the UK to be reunited with their families. I think that we all agree that it is imperative that we continue to campaign for unaccompanied children.

As I said, the Labour amendment is about progressing a statutory framework, because we believe that that is within the Parliament’s competence and would benefit local authorities and local service provision. If the Government cannot support the amendment, I hope that it can at least give us an assurance that we can make further progress on ensuring that there is comprehensive access to services and a plan for the integration of the many refugees who have chosen to make Scotland their home, at least for the time being.

I move amendment S5M-01322.2, to insert after “lives;”:

“recognises the need to set out refugees’ rights to access services and enshrine national standards for integration in law, putting a 'New Scots' integration strategy on a statutory footing; agrees that clear rights to language and interpretation services and simplification of many provisions in Scots law can aid that integration;”