Emma Roddick: 'We need compassion in our approach to refugees'

In the aftermath of the initial illegal invasion of Ukraine by Russia, I was inundated with calls and emails from people across the Highlands and Islands who wanted to help. Most MSP and MP offices will report the same.

A member of my team was asked to pull together a list of all the drop-off points and community efforts that were ongoing in the first few weeks. It took all afternoon.

People were desperate to be part of moves to provide emergency supplies for those arriving in Poland, offering money, clothes, and even offering to drive their lorries and trucks for days in order to move donations across Europe. Folk from Inverness to the north of Shetland were pulling together baby toys and blankets and eagerly seeking out ways to get them to Ukrainians who needed them.

It was the same when the Scottish Government sought spare rooms and empty homes to house displaced people in through our Super Sponsor Scheme. Not only were folk opening up their homes, but I also had people writing to me weekly to make sure they were definitely on the list, not having been matched with a refugee yet.

That’s how I know that many across my region will share my absolute disgust at the actions of the UK Government as it continues to try to force through its Illegal Migration Bill; a bill that appears incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights.

Scotland is an open, welcoming country. My experience in my role as an MSP so far has been that people here want to help where help is needed; want to uphold the human rights of everyone, regardless of where they come from and why; and do not support the hostile environment that the UK Government has created.

We should be spending this country’s immigration budget making sure that asylum seekers are supported and protected, not flying them to Rwanda. We should be making sure that children arriving in Scotland – having been through horrific and traumatic experiences – are warm and fed, not applying No Recourse to Public Funds status to their mothers and leaving them to fend for themselves.

We should be reflecting the internationalist outlook of my constituents when they leapt to help our European neighbours in their time of need; not trying to get out of international responsibilities to uphold basic human rights.

We need compassion in our approach to refugees. If decency is not enough, consider that all of our rights are interdependent. We cannot trust a UK government willing to trample on the human rights of someone else– including children who need our help – to uphold them when it comes to ourselves.

Safe and legal routes to seeking asylum for those fleeing war and persecution are vital. It’s our moral duty to provide them. What the UK government is proposing has been described by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees as a ban on asylum – a ban on refugees. Scotland cannot stand for it.

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