It is two year's since the photograph of 3 year old Alan Kurdi prompted moral outrage and political reaction. The Prime Minister at the time, David Cameron, announced that the UK would offer direct resettlement to up to 20,000 vulnerable Syrians living in refugee camps over a five year period reports SFAR.
Recently published statistics from the UK Home Office have shown that between 1 October 2015 and 30 June 2017, 8,283 people have been offered sanctuary in the UK under the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement programme - 1,807 people have come to Scotland under this scheme, which is around 21% of the total (Scotland's population is around 8.5% of the UK as a whole). The scheme works by individual local authorities opting-in and negotiating with the UK Government about the details.
Numbers of people by local authority are listed below. (These numbers are only for people who have come through the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement route, it doesn't count every refugee or asylum seekers, or babies born to refugee parents after they have arrived).
Aberdeen 75
Highland 46
Aberdeenshire 94
Inverclyde 42
Angus 33
Midlothian 23
Argyll and Bute 92
Moray 19
Clackmannanshire 78
North Ayrshire 72
Dumfries and Galloway 18
North Lanarkshire 133
Dundee 82
Orkney Islands 8
East Ayrshire 25
Perth and Kinross 32
East Dunbartonshire 21
Renfrewshire 107
East Lothian 33
Scottish Borders 21
East Renfrewshire 40
Shetland Islands 0
Edinburgh 153
South Ayrshire 30
Eilean Siar 26
South Lanarkshire 93
Falkirk 28
Stirling 17
Fife 72
West Dunbartonshire 85
Glasgow 163
West Lothian 46
It is hoped that the widespread support for humanitarian resettlement from across Scottish councils shows that there is a desire and capacity to respond, and that this will influence future policy decisions about creating safe and legal pathways for refugees.