HOME Office funding restrictions are causing “divides” in Scottish communities, whistleblowers have told the Sunday National.
Council workers have sounded the alarm over cash for refugee resettlement schemes, which they say pit locals against refugees and breed resentment.
All but two local authorities in Scotland have refugee resettlement teams, which are given funding directly by the Home Office to pay for programmes to help people fleeing war-torn countries integrate into their new communities – but the money comes with strict stipulations that it can only be spent on refugees.
One source, who works in a Scottish local authority’s refugee resettlement scheme, said: “We’re doing the opposite of what we’re supposed to be doing. We’re creating divides where we should, if you want to integrate people, be inviting others.”
Another, who works for a council team helping people with mental health and addiction issues, added: “A lot of my clients are people with negative views of refugees and asylum seekers, and I think if we integrated them and they met these people, they would completely change their views. But we’re not able to do that because of the way this system is set up.”
She added: “With that Home Office funding, once they’ve got that, we’re then causing a divide, we’re not integrating them into society. I can see as a worker that there’s things, even as simple as knitting groups and arts and crafts classes, that I think that my clients would benefit from."
She gave the example of a woman she works with who she described as having “staunchly racist views”, but who she believed could have her mind changed if she was eligible to be included in a knitting group run locally for refugees as she would see “that they knit as well and you’ve more in common than what divides you”.
The source added: “I work with some older clients who have got mental health issues and they’re really isolated within their homes, which is essentially the same issue that folk within the refugee service, they’re experiencing isolation, but if we could link these people together, we would then create a natural support network with each other.”
The source who works for the refugee resettlement scheme said that even staff can become resentful of the discrepancies in services offered to refugees versus those given to local residents with councils bearing the brunt of people’s ire: “It’s not down to them [the council], they don’t get to allocate this budget, they’re not choosing to ignore others, they’re just going by the guidance from the Home Office. People do think it’s the councils ignoring their local residents.”
He suggested that the Home Office should loosen the rules attached to the funding to boost community cohesion at a time when the far-right are preying on divisions.
“Even if they said, if you’re putting stuff on, a percentage should be for refugees,” he added. “They do need to be seen to want to help local residents as well.
“Personally, I think if the Home Office did loosen the rules, that would ease tensions a bit. Refugees want to do things with locals, so it’s depriving them as well.”
Scottish Greens leadership candidate Ross Greer said: "These daft Home Office rules need rewritten to allow communities to properly welcome refugees through activities and support groups."
The West of Scotland MSP said that he knew from his experience of anti-migrant protests in Erskine, Renfrewshire, that "plenty of local people wanted to get to know the refugees hosted at the local hotel".
He added: "There were suggestions of football tournaments and other events where everyone could come together. The actions of the Home Office and their private contractors made that impossible, giving white supremacist thugs from outside the area the chance they needed to worm their way in, spreading fear and alarm.
“There are countless other community groups and charities out there across Scotland who are trying really hard to offer the practical and emotional support that refugees need. The Home Office should be making that easier, not standing in the way of that support. Their current actions help no one other than the fascist extremists trying to divide communities and stir up hatred.”
The Home Office was approached for comment.
