Hansard

It is with pleasure that we take this opportunity in Parliament to welcome the 1,000 migrants, so that we can make our new friends feel at home, from the Highlands in the north of Scotland to the south of Scotland and everywhere in between. East Lothian Council has committed to welcoming seven Syrian refugee families over the next five years.

We must acknowledge the incredible efforts of those who are involved in giving aid to people who have been displaced. The crisis has sent shock waves round the world, and I am proud that the UK has maintained its tradition of being at the forefront of the response. To help in a very small way, in January this year I orchestrated a coat collection in Haddington, amassing hundreds of warm coats to send to Syria during its bitterly cold winter.

Since 2012, the UK has committed £2.3 billion to the Syrian crisis, making us the second largest bilateral donor after the USA. Already, 3,349 Syrians have resettled in the UK. It is right that we welcome 1,000 Syrian refugees here in Scotland. It is our responsibility to help those who are in need, and the UK Government has shown its commitment to doing just that. It is working hard on behalf of the interests of 20,000 Syrian refugees under its Syrian vulnerable person resettlement scheme. The UK Government has also agreed to provide resettlement for up to 3,000 vulnerable children and their family members from conflict areas in the middle east and north Africa regions. Only yesterday, the UK Government created a £10 million refugee children fund to support the needs of vulnerable refugee and migrant children.

Indeed, it is the UK Government’s implementation of the Syrian resettlement programme that has allowed thousands of those people to resettle. The complexity of the crisis requires that type of forward thinking on resettling and integrating refugees into our local communities. Close working with non-governmental organisations and local government allows local authorities to plan ahead.

As such, the Department for Work and Pensions is funding accessible community English language courses to enable refugees to meet the requirement of their jobseekers agreement, and ultimately, of course, to find work. In fact, only yesterday, Amber Rudd announced a further £10 million package to boost English language tuition.

Furthermore, the Refugee Council and the DWP are doing great work to promote refugees into work. That involves ensuring that there is an understanding of the skills and qualifications that are held by the refugees and then finding the most suitable employment for them. Indeed, the Scottish Government has worked to knock down barriers to employment and give access to employability services. In this instance, we see both the UK Government and the Scottish Government working together to help to address those needs.

It is not only in resettlement that we continue our help. Funding has helped to deliver over 21 million food rations, over 4 million medical consultations and almost 6 million relief packages, saving lives in Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, Iraq and Egypt. That involves working with 30 partners in a united effort to give support to as many people as possible. Working with those different organisations, and consulting with experts, enables funding to go to the most vulnerable groups, which improves the effectiveness of the overall international response to the crisis.

In Scotland, we welcome 1,000 migrants and we will welcome more over the next five years. When the UK Government promised to resettle 20,000 migrants, the First Minister said that Scotland would take a minimum of 10 per cent. The Migration Scotland website reports that all of Scotland’s 32 councils have committed to supporting resettlement in one form or another, with many local authorities having already resettled refugees.

It is important to highlight that those who are selected for resettlement are the most vulnerable—women and children, survivors of torture, people in need of medical care or with severe disabilities, persons at risk due to their sexual orientation and those with family links in resettlement countries.

Furthermore, it is important to note that individuals entering the UK under the resettlement programme have been granted five years of humanitarian protection. Under the humanitarian protection visa, people are entitled to access public funds and the labour market and to explore the possibility of family reunion. The programme therefore addresses concerns that many raise—it helps children, it helps those in medical need and it offers those people not just protection in the UK but a new life free of violence and a chance to reconnect those families who have been torn apart by conflicts.

Earlier this year, we saw London hold the supporting Syria and the region conference, which was co-hosted by the UK, Germany, Kuwait, Norway and the United Nations. The conference raised $12 billion for 2016 and $6.7 billion moving through to 2020. Its remit was to come up with the best strategy to deal with the crisis. The conference embodies the approach of working together with 60 other countries to offer support to Syria and the region.

Since the conference, the UK Government has done more to offer support. It has worked with Jordan and Lebanon to promote job creation in the area, it has expanded UK support to those places in most need, and it has furthered education by committing up to £40 million a year for the next four years—