History
Celebrating 25 years of Scottish Refugee Council
This year, Scottish Refugee Council is celebrating its 25th Anniversary. Scottish Refugee Council was set up in 1985 with help from Refugee Action and the British Refugee Council, now called Refugee Council).
Since the Second World War thousands of people have fled to Scotland; Poles escaping the Nazi invasion; Ugandan Asians expelled by Idi Amin; Chileans who were forced to flee a violent military coup.
From small shop premises in the Cowgate in Edinburgh, Scottish Refugee Council started to give advice and support to the resettled Vietnamese refugees, Chilean refugees and other refugees.
In 2008 some 2,930 people were supported through the asylum process in Scotland. Now more than ever it is vital that Scottish Refugee Council can continue to help and support those fleeing persecution.
We employ around 60 full time staff as well as several part-time caseworkers and volunteers. Our headquarters are now in Glasgow but we have a Scotland-wide remit. We have a diverse funding base and work closely with other refugee organisations and non-governmental bodies in Scotland and across the UK.
Bosnia in 1992
The Bosnian Programme, which ran from 1992 to 1996, saw several hundred Bosnians evacuated to Scotland – initially only women and children. Scottish Refugee Council opened a reception centre in North Berwick. The refugees were supported from the initial reception and orientation phase to living independently. Scottish Refugee Council also led a small government-funded medical evacuation programme bringing adults and children to Scotland for specialist medical care.
In 1994, working with the local authorities and other agencies in the east, The Lothian Corporate Startegy for Support for Refugees was drawn up. This was a forerunner to the Scottish Refugee Integration Action Plan to which Scottish Refugee Council has made such a significant contribution.
Kosovo in 1999
In May 1999 Scottish Refugee Council co-ordinated another large scale protection programme. The Kosovan Programme arose out of an agreement between UNHCR and European governments to provide temporary protection and shelter to Kosovans who had fled the ethnic cleansing perpetrated by Serbian military and paramilitary forces.
Arrangements were made with Glasgow City Council, Renfrewshire Council and East Lothian Council to provide accommodation and other services. Reception buildings were commissioned, upgraded, furnished and staffed within a period of weeks. The first flight arrived in Scotland in May 1999.
Scottish Refugee Council staff were given one week’s notice of this arrival and in the days leading up to it were told that there would be another flight on the same day! In its short history, this programme was both the largest that the charity had had to deal with and the first time its work was the focus of huge media interest.
New arrivals
During this time, Scottish Refugee Council offered advice and support to a steady flow of people arriving independently to claim asylum in Scotland. These new arrivals have reflected the patterns of global war over the years. The 1991 Gulf War saw many Iraqis fleeing to the UK, and similarly the war that raged throughout Rwanda in the 1990’s saw many flee to the UK in search of safety.
Dispersal
In 1999 the government set out its proposals to disperse asylum seekers across the UK and away from London and the South east where the majority of those seeking asylum arrived.
Glasgow City Council was the first local authority in the UK to sign up to dispersal and with little or no preparation or planning time, thousands of asylum seekers began arriving in Scotland. As an organisation we faced a 20-fold increase in our client base.
In anticipation of dispersal the Chief Executive and the board of directors embarked on an organisational review and made significant changes to strengthen the organisation and enable it to meet the new challenges. As a result headquarters were relocated to Glasgow which is now the biggest dispersal city in the UK.
Tightening of government policy
Since this time asylum has been under increasing public scrutiny and the UK government has passed three acts of parliament which have tightened the asylum system and have often payed disregard to fundamental human rights.