Scots More Welcoming To Migrants, Says Race Commission

Scotland’s strong sense of national identity means its new migrants receive a far more welcoming reception than in England and Wales, according to a new UK-wide report from the Commission for Racial Equality.

The study which involved interviews with new migrants, existing residents and local authorities across the UK, highlights huge differences in how people are received north and south of the border.

However, it warns that Scotland faces the fastest-growing new migrant population and should not be complacent about integration policies.

Researchers found non-white migrants face the least-welcoming reception across the UK and the highest levels of hostility come from the most economically- deprived groups, from both white and ethnic minorities.

The report suggests that Scots may have been more welcoming partly because the numbers of new migrants have been so much lower than in England and Wales. It also praises the work of the Scottish Executive and media in highlighting the positive aspects of immigration and the need for new people to fill shortages in the labour market.

The study, conducted by the Institute for Public Policy Research, describes “worrying” levels of hostility within many areas in England and Wales.

It comes five years after the first wave of asylum seekers were welcomed to Glasgow under the Home Office’s controversial distribution programme and calls for the executive and Westminster to introduce an overarching integration strategy which focuses on interaction and equality.

The report states: “There is a received wisdom that Scotland tends to be more welcoming to newcomers because of a strong sense of national identity, which many do not believe is under threat from migration. Many said they had come to Scotland because informal networks of friends and peers already living in Scotland had told them that it was a friendly place.

“Our research found a markedly more positive reception to new migrants in the Scottish locations than in the English locations. However, there is little room for complacency, as the Scottish experience of migration is not uniformly positive.”

Earlier this month, community leaders in Glasgow called for more resources for the city’s Govanhill area which they say is blighted by racial tension between groups of Asians and Eastern Europeans.

In Scotland, researchers interviewed executive and local authority officials, business people, new migrants and settled residents.

The study is also based on four different focus groups held in Perth and Kinross and Edinburgh with skilled and non-skilled migrants and settled residents of different social backgrounds.

Ali Jarvis, head of the Commission for Racial Equality in Scotland, said: “Without a doubt the mood music in Scotland is different from that in England and Wales. So far it has gone relatively smoothly but Scotland faces the most rapid changes to its population of the past 50 years and there is no room for complacency.

“We want people to stay and to encourage them to do so we have to put the support in place. In Scotland, there have been hostilities towards new migrants, particularly in relation to colour, but it is still not as bad as it is in England.

“There are dangers of people living parallel lives. Confidence about Scotland’s own national identity could allow us to avoid the mistakes of England and Wales over the past 50 years but we will have to work hard to get the right levels of infrastructure, support and communication.”