The ferry to the Isle of Bute, a beautiful but remote island off the west coast of Scotland, smells of salt and vinegar crisps. Bored passengers lounge about leafing through newspapers while the ferry drifts over a choppy grey sea.
I try to imagine the atmosphere one month ago, when nine Syrian refugee families rode this boat towards their new lives. The crossing from Gourock to Bute was the last leg of a journey that began at an over-crowded refugee camp in Lebanon and ended in vacant houses around the island’s main town of Rothesay.
The families were brought over as part of David Cameron’s promise to resettle 1,000 displaced Syrians in the UK by Christmas. They’ve been given five years' humanitarian protection status, free housing and social welfare, as well as permission to work from the day they arrive. Some, suffering from post-traumatic shock, are also being provided with counselling support.
Bute, which has been battered by gales and heavy rain this winter, seems an unlikely place to resettle traumatised families from the Middle East, but it has one great advantage that much of the UK lacks – there’s space and spare housing. Local counsellor Isabel Strong, who first suggested bringing Syrian refugees here, said, “we have room in Rothesay, and these people need safe homes”.
And Bute’s declining population could do with a healthy boost. Once known as the “Madeira” of Scotland, the island’s glory has faded rather since its 1970s heyday. Cheap international flights have lured British holidayers away to sunnier climes and the lack of opportunities has driven most young people to flee to the mainland, leaving behind empty houses and an ageing population.
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