Home Office cruelty shows need for Scotland to have control over immigration
The “institutional malice and cruelty” of the Home Office and UK Government policy show the need for Scotland to have more control over immigration, according to Scottish Greens MSP Ross Greer, who has called for “a humanitarian and welcoming immigration policy that reflects the better society and economy we want to build.”
This follows days of hostility to migrants from the UK government and promises of “tougher action” from the Home Secretary, Priti Patel,who is trying to pass the anti-migrant Nationality and Borders Bill.
Yesterday it was revealed that a number of refugees arriving in England are being immediately transferred to the Dungavel detention centre in Scotland.
Scottish Greens immigration spokesperson, Ross Greer said:
"Many of the people who have crossed the Channel have fled war, poverty, violence and persecution. They deserve our support, empathy and solidarity, not the disgraceful hostility and scapegoating we have seen from the Home Office. The last thing they need is to be put on a 500 mile bus journey and detained in somewhere as inhumane and brutal as Dungavel.
"The Home Office has shown time and again that it cannot be trusted to ensure the welfare of refugees. It has a long and shameful record of institutional malice and cruelty. The same goes for the Tories, who established the policy of making Britain a 'hostile environment' for immigrants and presided over the Windrush scandal.
"With independence we can build a fairer, greener and inclusive Scotland that extends a hand of friendship, rather than a UK which detains refugees in prison-like conditions and sends vans into our communities to remove residents in dawn raids. We can take a different path and introduce a humanitarian and welcoming immigration policy that reflects the better society and economy we want to build."