Centre for Public Policy

In Spring 2024, the Scottish Government is expected to publish the framework for the next iteration of the New Scots Refugee Integration Strategy (with an Action Plan soon to follow in the Autumn). This Strategy, which espouses an “integration from day one of arrival” approach, will both stand in contrast to – and be expected to mitigate against – the approaches taken by the UK Government in recent years. In this blog post for the Centre for Public Policy, I reflect on some of the key learnings developed through a partnership project with the Scottish Government, the Scottish Refugee Council (SRC) and the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA).[i] Our findings show that, while the existing Strategy has supported refugee integration in Scotland, more work is needed to simplify the policy and funding landscape of refugee integration, deliver better English language learning opportunities and structures for vulnerable adults, and respond to the long-term effects of border control.

A complex policy landscape

While immigration is a reserved matter for the UK Government, the Scottish Government has considerable devolved powers regarding refugee integration and has published two iterations of its New Scots Refugee Integration Strategy. Meanwhile, Scotland’s 32 Local Authorities and refugee/community groups across the country are at the forefront of delivering humanitarian protection programmes and refugee integration initiatives.

 The policy landscape for the delivery of refugee integration is, howDanever, becoming steadily more complex. The number of UK relocation and resettlement schemes have been proliferating since 2015. Each scheme provides different rights and entitlements for the persons involved, different funding provisions for the Local Authority to which they are resettled, and different operational processes depending on the government department responsible (e.g. UK Home Office or the SG Ukraine directorate). This situation was further complicated by the UK Government’s decision to expand asylum dispersal through the use of hotel accommodation. Participation in asylum dispersal is therefore mandatory for Local Authorities, and people seeking asylum can now be housed anywhere across the country.

As a result of recent changes and the overall political landscape, Local Authorities are struggling to fund integration services, make long-term plans for refugee integration, and support those in hotel accommodation.

 

Languages are key (not just English)

Learning English has been identified by policymakers, researchers and refugees as being essential for improving integration as it allows people to be able to communicate, find employment, and access information regarding their rights and services. Aside from gaining skills, however, learning English also plays an essential role in reducing people’s isolation, enhancing their wellbeing and gives them the opportunity to start shaping their future and personal plans. One of the successes of New Scots Refugee Integration Strategy is that it supports the free-of-charge access to English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) lessons for refugees and people seeking asylum from the day they arrive in Scotland.

Despite access on paper, however, funding for ESOL has not kept up with demand. As a result, both Local Authority and college level ESOL classes are oversubscribed in many parts of country. Scotland’s ESOL Strategy expired in 2020 and ESOL was incorporated into Scotland’s new Adult Learning Strategy.[ii] This move has reduced the visibility of ESOL as a main area of concern in Community Learning and Development and leaves a vacuum where holistic thinking concerning the role of language learning for vulnerable adults. As with the integration policy landscape, the ESOL funding landscape in Scotland is also too complex and has resulted in ESOL provision for refugees being incredibly patchy across the country.

Significant planning is required to consider how best to support refugee learners to improve their English skills, and three aspects of ESOL delivery need to be addressed:

1. ESOL curricula for refugees (and other vulnerable adults) should be based on social practice models of Community Learning and Development – emphasising empowerment and learner decision-making.
2. It has been shown that including other languages in the classroom can be an excellent means of assisting new English learners to start learning English. Excluding other languages from the classroom exacerbates learners’ experiences of being skills deficient.
3. There needs to be more consideration of the overall ESOL journey for refugee learners. The Adult Learning Strategy predominantly approaches ESOL as a means to accessing further education, yet this is not the primary concern of many refugees.

 

Borders and integration: two sides of the same coin

One of main oversights when it comes to refugee integration is the implicit assumption that people can restart their lives with a clean slate once they have gained refugee status or been resettled. For those who have claimed asylum in the UK, they will have spent months (if not years) living in limbo: denied access to legal employment, repeated moves between accommodations and uncertainty regarding their asylum claims. A ‘fresh’ start for someone therefore involves explaining the gaps in their CV, regaining skills lost during their time in limbo, and securing new housing or risk being made street homeless. These conditions severely impact peoples’ ability to rebuild their lives and engage in processes of integration.

People evacuated from Ukraine, meanwhile, have been ‘lucky’ in that they have been granted immediate access to integration services, housing and the labour market. However, the visas granted to people from Ukraine by the UK Government give them only three years Leave to Remain. While this decision makes sense given the uncertainty of the timelines of the war, it also means that people from Ukraine have no knowledge of what will occur when their visa expires. As a result, people’s stays in Scotland are marred by uncertainty. Should their children stay in school in Ukraine (through online learning)? Is it worth investing in new businesses in the UK? Should they invest time and effort to learn English in order to gain better employment, or work longer hours now to build up funds for when their visa expires?

For both people from Ukraine and those who have gone through the asylum system, therefore, borders and the immigration rules that form part of bordering practices play a significant role on the decisions they make and their integration journeys.

 

The Road Ahead

Going forward, therefore, there is much work to be done in 2024 to support refugee integration in Scotland. Some of this work will be underpinned by the next iteration of the New Scots Refugee Integration Strategy, yet a lot more effort will be needed between the various levels of government to simplify the overall political landscape of refugee integration, support the learning of English and other languages, and highlight the impact of immigration rules on integration.

 

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[i] The Principal Investigator on the project was Prof. Alison Phipps (UNESCO Chair in Refugee Integration through the Languages and the Arts) and my colleague was Dr Esa Aldegheri.

[ii] A review was promised but is not yet underway.

First published: 20 February 2024