History
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. In the early 1980s 1,150 Vietnamese boat people were resettled in Scotland. In 1985 Scottish Refugee Council was set up with help from Refugee Action and the British Refugee Council. From small shop premises in the Cowgate in Edinburgh, the organisation started to give advice and support to the resettled Vietnamese, Chilean refugees and other refugees.
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, a forerunner of the Scottish Refugee Integration Action Plan which Scottish Refugee Council has made such a significant contribution to.
In May 1999 Scottish Refugee Council co-ordinated another large scale protection programme. The Kosovan Programme arose out of an agreement between UNHCR and the European governments to provide temporary protection and shelter to Kosovans who had fled to countries such as Macedonia to escape the ethnic cleansing perpetrated by Serbian military and paramilitary forces. Within extremely short timescales, arrangements were made with three local authorities (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 only given one week’s notice of this arrival and in the days leading up to this 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.
As well as taking part in these specially arranged government programmes Scottish Refugee Council has always offered advice and support to a steady flow of people arriving independently to claim asylum in Scotland. New arrivals are given a chance to recuperate before being explained the process of claiming asylum in the UK and getting support in the interim period. 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 abroad to the UK in search of safety.
This was good preparation for the challenge of dispersal which was to follow. 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 an unprecedented 20-fold increase in our client base. We were the only real organisation with experience in this area and the demand on us was overwhelming, leading at one point to us having to close our offices.
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.
Since this time asylum has been under increasing public scrutiny and the UK government has passed three acts of parliament tightening the asylum system and often paying disregard to fundamental human rights and another is on the way. The aim of government policy seems to be on numbers – stopping people from claiming asylum in the UK in the first place and removing as many people as possible, rather than ensuring that people who need protection are given it and people who do not are returned humanely. People are frequently detained including children – often unfairly. Increasingly people who have claimed asylum are being forced into destitution. Individuals and families are removed without dignity or care. As a result the staff at Scottish Refugee Council are faced with tougher challenges than ever before.
Today with around 11,000 refugees and asylum seekers living in Glasgow alone it is more important than ever for Scottish Refugee Council to continue to help and support those fleeing persecution.
We now employ around 60 full time staff as well as several part-time caseworkers and volunteers. Our headquarters are now in Glasgow but we maintain a presence in Edinburgh and have a Scottish-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.
If you would like to read more about our work click here to continue reading the About Us section.