[Glen]

The Home Office’s Syrian Vulnerable Person Resettlement scheme, which aims to house 20,000 people in the UK by 2020 and prioritises the most vulnerable. The refugees have been given five years’ Humanitarian Protection status, permission to work and access to public funds, with their costs met for a year by the overseas aid budget.

Argyll and Bute council was among 16 Scottish local authorities to sign up for the initiative, and has welcomed several families after the first Syrian refugees arrived in Scotland in November. Bute has a population of around 7,000 and a high unemployment rate. The average age of residents in Bute is mid to late 50s, while less than 0.5 per cent of the population are from an ethnic minority.

Abd and Hassan were imprisoned and tortured in their homeland and also spoke of their huge relief after escaping from the district of Baba Amr in Homs, which was destroyed by bombing. Abd told the Daily Mail he had been making trips to Glasgow in an attempt to find work, and said he had not expected to end up on a small island. Abd said, "We thought we were going to London or Manchester", "At first, of course, I was really happy to come to the UK. It is the mother of freedom", and "I feel like I have one option now, to die here. Only die here, nothing else."

The families said they would be happier in a place where there were more Arabic people, and where they had better prospects of finding a job.

One study at the University of Newcastle titled "Immigration and Population Profiles of City Regions in England and Wales", suggests most Arab and African immigrants seek settlement in (and contribute to economic growth in) the weaker city/regional economies of Birmingham, Cardiff, Coventry, Hull, Leicester, Liverpool, Middlesbrough, Stoke.

London (financial capital) and Manchester (media capital) are hot-spots for Chinese investors and graduates seeking work.

[Decky]

Weaker? Birmingham is the second city of the UK.

[The Sabbaticus]

Scottish integration at its finest.

“I love the weather. There are some people who like this weather and I like it. I like the winter. But for six, seven months now there has been nowhere to go.

"There is no movement, there is nothing. I’m not bored any more. I am depressed now.”

He also revealed that after feeling “humiliated” by council staff, he drank a whole bottle of whisky as part of a failed suicide attempt.

The families arrived in Scotland eight months ago as part of the Home Office’s Syrian Vulnerable Person Resettlement scheme, which aims to house 20,000 people in the UK by 2020 and prioritises the most vulnerable.

The refugees have been given five years’ Humanitarian Protection status, permission to work and access to public funds, with their costs met for a year by the overseas aid budget.

Argyll and Bute council was among 16 Scottish local authorities to sign up for the initiative, and has welcomed several families after the first Syrian refugees arrived in Scotland in November.

Abd told the Daily Mail he had been making trips to Glasgow in an attempt to find work, and said he had not expected to end up on a small island.

He added: “We thought we were going to London or Manchester. But whenever we say anything about moving off the island, we are told, ‘we had to pay a lot of money to bring you here’.

"I feel like it’s an obligatory residence. I feel humiliated. I didn’t come here for anyone to control me.”

Fatima, 31, and her husband Hassan, 41, who have two daughters, said through an interpreter that they had been excited by the prospect of moving to either Glasgow or Manchester.

The families said they would be happier in a place where there were more Arabic people, and where they had better prospects of finding a job.

Bute has a population of around 7,000 and a high unemployment rate. The average age of residents in Bute is mid to late 50s, while less than 0.5 per cent of the population are from an ethnic minority, official figures reveal.

Abd and Hassan were imprisoned and tortured in their homeland and also spoke of their huge relief after escaping from the district of Baba Amr in Homs, which was destroyed by bombing.

An Argyll and Bute council spokesman said he was disappointed that the two families were unhappy, adding: “These are not the views of the majority of our families, who are settling in well and making the most of all the opportunities of support and welcome available.”

The names of the refugees have been changed to protect family members in Syria.

[Glen]

Weaker? Birmingham is the second city of the UK.

Yes, I did indeed mess that up. Weaker is in reference to immigration rates rather than economy size.

The Birmingham economy has a weaker immigration rate.

[ra-ra-ra]

Hopefully most of them go back to Africa where they belong..........