Final preparations in hand to welcome refugees to Highland

11th May 2016

Highland Community Planning Partners have confirmed that they are now ready to receive 4 Syrian refugee families to the Highlands in the next few weeks.

A working group of officers and volunteers from The Highland Council, Police Scotland, NHS Highland, and Highland Third Sector Interface have been putting final preparations in place for housing, education and health support for the families.

Local residents, parents and community group representatives are being invited to a community engagement event in Alness organised by the Highland Third Sector Interface. The event is aimed at local residents, parents of school pupils and local community organisations among whom the refugees will be coming to live within their community.

The purpose of the event is to allow local people the opportunity to learn more about the refugee crisis and the cultures of the people re-settling in their community. It will also give the community an opportunity to ask questions and identify ways in which they may wish to provide a warm welcome and support to the refugees over the coming months.

Training has also been organised by the Scottish Refugee Council for front line support staff and volunteers on Welcoming and Working with Syrian Refugees.

Leader of The Highland Council, Cllr Margaret Davidson said: "I am pleased that we are now ready to welcome the first Syrian refugees to Highland. Along with our partners, we have identified the Alness area as the best suited location in which currently available housing, schooling and health support can be provided together with shared and accessible interpretation services. I would like to thank the Highland Third Sector Interface for their invaluable support in providing an invaluable voluntary service both to the incoming refugees and also to the local community by organising the community engagement event."

Supt Ross McKillop Police Scotland said: "Highland and Islands Division, as part of Police Scotland, is commited to assisting Syrian refugees integrate safely and successfully into communities in the Highlands.

"Over 370 refugees have settled in Scotland so far and we are delighted to play our part in welcoming the families to Ross-shire. We're fortunate to serve some of the safest communities in the country and will continue to focus on our top priority of keeping people safe - whatever their culture, race or religious beliefs."

Dr Ken Oates, Consultant in Public Health Medicine, said: "NHS Highland will continue to work closely with partner agencies and local general practitioners to ensure that the refugee families have access to high quality health care. We will do all we can to meet their needs which we anticipate may also include mental health and dental health issues."

Mhairi Wylie, Chief Officer, Highland Third Sector Interface said: "I'm incredibly proud to have been given the chance to be part of the Highland response to this horrific humanitarian crisis. Our volunteers have demonstrated an outstanding commitment to really showcasing the best of Highland hospitality, ensuring that these families can come here and experience a future in one of the safest, most beautiful and welcoming areas of the UK.

“The efforts of The Highlands Supports Refugees is both exemplary and humbling and I'd like to thank them for their support and work in co-ordinating donations to match the needs our families and their ongoing efforts to support those abroad. They have been critical in empowering the people of Highland into action.

“The contacts, queries and offers of help that we have been receiving from the third sector, and members of the public, demonstrate that there is a huge desire to provide help and support for refugees, both here and those displaced elsewhere within Europe and the Middle East. The arrival of the first families is an important opportunity for the people of Highland to continue to send a message that the Syrian Crisis isn’t ok, that we want to help and that can make a difference to those people whose lives have been devastated by this conflict. It is because of this generosity of spirit that I hope and believe we can be proud of what we as citizens have and could do."

This is the first re-settlement of Syrian refugees in Highland. The Highland Council has agreed with COSLA to take up to 25 - 30 families, over the period of the national re-settlement programme, subject to the confirmation of available housing.

The Home Office and Department for International Development are covering the cost of re-settling refugees across the UK.