Syrian refugees
Inverclyde Council has joined with councils across Scotland in showing our commitment to providing help and support to families facing appalling conditions and fleeing conflict and danger. Inverclyde and Scotland have been welcoming places to people in need. The council and our health and social care partnership is working closely with local and national agencies to ensure the process is as smooth as it can be for what is expected to be some very vulnerable people who require support and assistance.
The programme the Council will link with to identify Syrian refugees is through the Government’s Syrian Vulnerable Persons Relocation Scheme. This will involve families being selected from refugee camps in countries neighbouring Syria and coming to the UK.
The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) will be involved in the selection process and the International Organisation for Migration will be responsible for their transportation.
Many of the families will have been resident in the camps for up to four years.
We will not confirm the detail of any families arriving or when that is. Our priority is to ensure that any families welcomed into our community get the right level of support and compassion and have the time to settle into a new life.
As a council and a community, Inverclyde will welcome up 10 families as part of this programme who have suffered and require our help to build new lives away from a conflict zone.