Cameron Barracks.
IT isn’t in the least surprising that Highland councillors have tried to reduce the level of what they see as hostility towards 300 male asylum seekers who are due to arrive at the Cameron Barracks in Inverness.
I watched a recent special meeting discussing the issue online.
Councillors were wholly justified in condemning the rabid tone of some venomous posts on social media. These are irresponsible and unacceptable and in some cases bordering on being sick-minded.
Asylum seeker plan highlights need for urgent reform, says Scottish Refugee Council
At that meeting there were impassioned declarations that upcoming residents of the Cameron Barracks would not be violent criminals from overseas. Of course they won’t be. I’m sure the vast majority will be decent people. Whoever apart from a few crazy people online ever thought they would be a mass of criminality?
It was suggested by one councillor that a gesture of welcome would be for them to be introduced to the delights of the Highlands through the provision of organised bus tours. Let’s hope that proposal doesn’t gain momentum. Being ferried around this region in buses in the rain and sleet of January would be a form of cruelty which would probably be a breach of their human rights.
But I imagine most people get the point of the ultra-conciliatory council tone. There is nothing whatsoever to be gained by directing hostility towards the asylum seekers and trying to demonise them. Like it or not they are coming here and that reality has to be dealt with.
The main streak of council venom has been directed at the Home Office for the shambolic way the announcement about this was made, linked to the lack of information about it.
The Home Office has now caught up with events and has issued detail about the scheme which is readily available online. It covers areas like safety and security and services to be made available for the asylum seekers. People can read and digest it and make of it what they will. Some critics of the scheme may – possibly – find it reassuring, to a degree at least.
But what caught my attention in particular was the last paragraph of the document. It is headed: “Is this a permanent arrangement?” And below it states: “No – making use of Cameron Barracks is just the first step in the government’s work to exit hotels and source more appropriate accommodation to meet our statutory obligations. We hope to have alternative, longer term accommodation options up and running within 12 months.”
So there we have it in black and white. Plans are already being drawn up to provide “longer term accommodation” for the asylum seekers before they’ve even arrived. Will that be in Inverness and the Highlands? They don’t say. And it’s not as if there aren’t more than enough problems providing “longer term accommodation” for the people who already live here. What about “statutory obligations” for them?
Yes, we get the thinking behind the need to be reasonable and conciliatory and even broadly welcoming when it comes to this mass influx of asylum seekers. But fortunate indeed are those who find that a very natural and obliging and easy stance to take.
Do you want to respond to this article? If so, click here to submit your thoughts and they may be published in print.