Once again there appears to be a cross-border clash of cultures on the issue of failed asylum-seekers. The Home Office has launched a new fast-track system for deciding asylum applications and pledged that the backlog of existing cases will be cleared within five years. In Scotland, this involves around 1100 cases covering some 4000 men women and children. The vast majority are in Glasgow. Their children have a Scottish edge to their speech. Many are thriving at school, playing sports and musical instruments, and sitting certificate exams. As the years pass, they have come to regard Scotland as their home and, in return, Scottish communities have taken these people to their hearts. This chimes well with the Scottish Executive's policy of encouraging migrants to settle here and put down roots.
However, asylum is a policy area reserved to Westminster, and the Brit-ish government, keen to pander to a Fortress Britain approach in the right-wing press, has taken a much harder line, focused on meeting targets for removing failed asylum-seekers. As a result, Britain is now deporting more asylum-seekers than it receives. Where does this leave Scotland?
Today The Herald reveals that the executive is prepared to put pressure on the Home Office with regard to children who were born here and families who are well-integrated and making a positive contribution to life in Scotland. "We will urge the Home Office to take a sensible and pragmatic approach to reviewing their cases," writes Hugh Henry, Minister for Young People, in a letter to Scottish parliamentary committees.
Previously, the executive and the First Minister have intervened in the issue of forced removals as part of their responsibility for the welfare of children, but now they appear prepared to go further. This is a welcome development. In response, Immigration Minister Liam Byrne, who says his determination to remove failed asylum-seekers is "stronger than ever", should acknowledge that Scotland is a special case. It makes a mockery of Scotland's relationship with the rest of the world if we operate an immigration policy that welcomes migrants with open arms but forcibly deports asylum-seekers who have lived here for years.
Britain needs a fast, efficient, coherent and fair asylum policy in which the door is neither wide open nor locked shut. We reserve judgment on whether the new fast-track system is capable of delivering it. The backlog is a separate issue. We have long maintained that there is a powerful argument for offering a limited amnesty to those who have lived here longest. Rather than regarding Scotland as the Achilles heel of its asylum policy, the Home Office should make allowances for the genuine differences in culture, attitudes and needs between Scotland and England.
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