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Chamber and committees

Young Syrian Refugees Settle Better in Scotland

  • Submitted by: Gordon MacDonald, Edinburgh Pentlands, Scottish National Party.
  • Date lodged: Monday, 30 July 2018
  • Motion reference: S5M-13339

That the Parliament welcomes reports that young Syrian refugees are “better supported” in Scotland than in England; understands that more than 12 million people are thought to have fled their homes since the start of the civil war in Syria in 2011; acknowledges that UK ministers have been urged to be "more generous" after research found those who had been resettled in Scotland were happier and much better supported compared with those in England; recognises that experts from the University of Glasgow compared the treatment of Syrian refugees aged between 18 and 32 in the Lebanon, Greece and the UK, and also investigated the difference in support provided north and south of the UK border as part of the project called Building a New Life in Britain; welcomes reports that 81% of Syrian refugees in Scotland intend to remain in the country, compared with 65% of those in England; considers that Scotland has a long history of welcoming refugees and asylum seekers; supports the Scottish Government’s position that it is a human right to be able to seek asylum in another country; believes that the Scottish Government’s New Scots Refugee Integration Strategy, endorsed by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, sets out a bold vision for how Scotland can further welcome and support people to rebuild their lives from the day they arrive, and considers that, if the aim of refugee policy is to facilitate settlement, the support offered to refugees in Scotland should be emulated across the UK.


Supported by: Tom Arthur, Jenny Gilruth, Bill Kidd, Richard Lochhead, Richard Lyle, Ruth Maguire, Gillian Martin, John Mason, Joan McAlpine, Maureen Watt, Sandra White