Aberlour CEO Justina Murray Reflects on Refugee Week and Being Brave
Today (Saturday 20 June) marks World Refugee Day and the penultimate day of Scotland’s own Refugee Festival, celebrating our solidarity through art, culture and community. This weekend I’m looking forward to diving into the Festival, and its lively programme of activities and events.
The theme for this year’s Refugee Week is courage - a value and a behaviour which sits very comfortably with us at Aberlour. Those who know us will also know that ‘Being Brave’ is absolutely in our comfort zone. The fact this is the name of our strategy says it all, we’re not ones to wheesht when something needs to be said. We are not afraid to Be Brave, and this includes being brave for those children and young people who have arrived in Scotland from elsewhere, having had no choice but to make new lives for themselves far from home.
Our Guardianship Scotland service, a partnership with our wonderful colleagues at the Scottish Refugee Council, provides specialist support to all unaccompanied asylum-seeking children, victims of trafficking and children vulnerable to trafficking who arrive in Scotland alone. Our Guardianship young people have shown an incredible amount of courage and overcome huge challenges just to be in Scotland. They have life experiences that no childhood should include, such as violence, persecution, trafficking and exploitation, and they have had to make incredibly hard choices whilst being completely alone. By the time they reach us, they are exhausted, scared, traumatised, and carrying memories and experiences which would defeat most adults. And far from their trauma being over when they arrive here, they must then navigate the UK’s asylum, refugee and trafficking systems and processes which can only be described as overwhelming, bewildering and frightening.
Despite their journeys to Scotland being so difficult, the enthusiasm and commitment our young people show as New Scots making their life here fills me with hope about the kind of country we are building, and the kind of country we want to be. During the recent Scottish Parliament election campaign, I co-chaired our ‘Speak Up!’ political hustings with Ahmad, one of our Guardianship young people (who kept cool as a cucumber while I fluffed my lines and accidentally talked over one of the candidates on the panel). It was heartening to hear all those politicians present voice their commitment to champion and protect the rights of unaccompanied children, and to make sure that Scotland remains a country that welcomes those seeking refuge and protection.
We feel such pride in this version of Scotland as a welcoming place for many generations of New Scots to call home. But the recent violence and intimidation on our streets, amidst an increasingly hostile political climate, has left our young people feeling anxious and frightened. One of the young people at the hustings asked, “How will you advocate for and ensure protection of the rights of unaccompanied children in Scotland?” This should be the challenge to all of us, not just our politicians.
Now more than ever we must continue to show courage, to Be Brave, standing alongside and speaking up for those who find themselves the focus of hatred and abuse; calling out and challenging discrimination and prejudice. Let’s be that version of Scotland where all unaccompanied children and young people feel safe and welcome, so they can live, learn and thrive.