We’re determined to make life better for people seeking safety in Scotland. Here’s how we’re standing up for refugee rights.
Supporting people in desperate need
In 2023-24 we supported 428 destitute asylum seekers who were facing extreme poverty and homelessness, helping them access mental health services, get legal advice and find organisations providing food, clothing and homelessness support. During the course of the year, 55 people supported by our team, who had initially been refused asylum, were granted refugee status.
Read more about how we’re helping people in crisis.
Helping newly arrived families
Since launching in October 2021, our Family Rights Service has worked with 175 families from 34 nationalities. We have supported 606 people – including 324 children – to understand the complex asylum system and begin rebuilding their lives in Scotland.
We’re there for parents and children at every step in their asylum journey, helping them access healthcare and education, find legal and financial support and make connections in their new communities.
“The service is really, really helping me. My case manager goes the extra mile to resolve issues for me. She has been my strength in Scotland.”
Find out how we’re offering newly arrived families a helping hand
Raising awareness about refugee rights
Last year, 366 frontline workers from organisations, including charities, universities and local councils came to our training courses on refugee and asylum rights
Find out more about our training courses
Making recruitment fairer and more accessible
We worked with multiple employers, including Glasgow Chambers of Commerce, University of St Andrews and Enable Scotland to make recruitment fairer and more accessible for refugees.
525 people from various sectors attended our employer training sessions on refugee awareness.
Campaigning for change
We campaigned against the UK government’s unjust asylum policies – including the Illegal Migration Act and the Rwanda plan. As part of Together With Refugees coalition, we launched the Fair Begins Here campaign, calling for a better plan for refugees.
We also supported the Gaza Families Reunited campaign, calling for people with family members in Gaza to be allowed to bring them to safety in the UK. And we called for people to be given at least 56 days to find new housing after being granted refugee status.
Rewarding responsible journalism
We joined forces with the National Union of Journalists Scotland to host the Refugee Festival Scotland Media Awards 2023 celebrating fair, responsible and accurate journalism on refugee and asylum issues.
The awards honour the vital work of journalists in building greater public empathy and understanding of the experiences of people affected by forced migration.
Supporting more of Scotland’s most vulnerable children
Last year, 945 unaccompanied children were helped to feel safe and secure by our Guardianship Scotland service, run in partnership with Aberlour Children’s Charity.
Guardianship Scotland aims to provide every unaccompanied asylum-seeking and trafficked child in Scotland with an independent guardian to support them and speak up on their behalf.
One of the young people supported by Guardianship Scotland said this about their guardian: “I knew I had somebody there I could trust. I knew I had someone there that I could open up and tell how I felt inside.”
