New Scots

We believe that refugees and people seeking asylum should be welcomed and supported to integrate into our communities from day one.

The New Scots refugee integration strategy sets out a vision of a welcoming Scotland where people are able to rebuild their lives from the day they arrive.

The strategy is built on partnership and collaboration, led by the Scottish Government, COSLA and the Scottish Refugee Council, and involves a wide range of partners across the public, private and third sectors

Implementation of the strategy is led by the  New Scots Core Group which has been chaired by Professor Alison Phipps, UNESCO Chair in Refugee Integration through Languages and the Arts at the University of Glasgow.

The strategy commits to better access to essential services such as education, housing, health and employment. It recognises the skills, knowledge and resilience which refugees bring and aims to help people to settle, become part of the community, and pursue their ambitions.

This strategy was informed by an engagement process involving over 2,000 refugees and people seeking asylum.

Read the analysis report of the engagement which informed the strategy development.

The development of the strategy was also informed by research and evaluation work undertaken through the EU-funded New Scots Refugee Integration Delivery Project. This included:

You can read more about the work being undertaken on the New Scots website hosted by the Scottish Refugee Council.

Background

The New Scots approach has been in place for over a decade.

The first New Scots integration strategy (2014 to 2017) established a collaborative approach to supporting people seeking protection from persecution and human rights abuses. A final report on the progress made under the first New Scots strategy was published in March 2017.

The second New Scots refugee integration strategy (2018 to 2022) built on this approach to continue to support refugees, people seeking asylum and communities across Scotland.

In addition to English, you can access a summary of the second New Scots strategy in Arabic, Chinese, Farsi, Kurdish Sorani and Tigrinya.

You can also read the June 2018 analysis report of the engagement which informed the development of the second strategy.

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