Free bus travel for asylum seekers can be life-changing - Lorna Slater
Free bus travel for people seeking asylum is a small change that will make a big difference for some of the most marginalised people in our society.
There are some days where I am really proud of our Scottish Parliament. Last Wednesday was one of those days.
One year ago the Scottish Government committed to a scheme which would introduce free bus travel for people seeking asylum here in Scotland. It was my Scottish Green colleague Patrick Harvie who announced this small but empowering policy to our party conference. A lot of us were elated by the news, which followed years of campaigning by refugee rights groups, community groups and MSPs from all parties.
However, after almost 12 months of work on it, this August the SNP said that the policy was being dropped, with the Government citing budget constraints. It was a broken promise to some of the most marginalised people in our society and a betrayal of everyone who had worked so hard and waited so long for this simple change.
When our time in Government ended in April we knew there would be some change in direction, but there could be no justification for being so cruel as to cut a policy that had already been promised and that would aid so many and cost so little.
Getting on a bus in Edinburgh is a simple thing that many, including myself, do not think twice about. Yet, for those who arrive in the UK through necessity and seeking shelter, it can be a huge chunk of the money they have to spend. Many will be living off £7 a day, a poverty that is consolidated by punishing restrictions which prohibit them from working.
A recent survey by Asylum Matters of 300 people seeking asylum found that 91 per cent did not have enough money to buy food, 75 per cent could not afford the medicines they needed, and 95 per cent were not able to travel where they needed to by public transport. For many it leads to a life of isolation. If Scotland is truly the welcoming and kind nation we believe ourselves to be, we cannot let the dehumanising and cruel UK asylum policy treat people here in desperate circumstances like this.
Last week, Scottish Green MSPs had the opportunity to set the business of the day in Parliament and bringing this policy back to the table was a top priority. MSPs of most party colours rallied around our calls for this policy to be introduced and after a highly emotional debate we were successful, with the Scottish Government re-committing to delivering the policy by 2026.
An adult DAYTicket on Lothian buses costs £5, removing this cost from people who are trapped in state-sanctioned poverty will be transformational. Scotland may not be able to repair a brutal UK asylum system, but we can use the powers we have to make our country more welcoming.
Lorna Slater is Scottish Green Party co-leader