SNP Manifesto 2019

STRONGER FOR SCOTLAND
income requirements for family visas, so families
can settle in Scotland long-term.
SNP MPs will continue to press the UK government
to end indefinite immigration detention. No other
European country has indefinite detention.
We continue to oppose the detention of children
and vulnerable people, including pregnant
women and people with mental illnesses. We will
continue to call for the UK government to pursue
alternatives to detention - we need a new approach
which prioritises compassion and fairness over
punishment and isolation.
A Place of Refuge
We believe that every country has a responsibility
to tackle global issues such as the plight of refugees
and the humanitarian impact of disasters and
emergencies, and that the UK nations should be a
place of safety.
Tragically, the UK Government’s approach has been
mired in the ‘hostile environment’ policy that has
seen them fail in their most basic humanitarian
moral duty.
That is why SNP MPs will demand that an
independent body make decisions on asylum
applications in place of the Home Office. This is part
of a wider set of reforms supported by the SNP
including:
• the creation of safe and legal routes for people to
find protection in the UK, and
• the right to work for asylum seekers, allowing
them to contribute to our economy more fully and
enabling parents to support their children.
The Syrian resettlement programme has shown
how successful and life transforming refugee
resettlement can be when properly resourced.
The SNP will call on the UK Government to follow
UNHCR recommendations and commit to taking
10,000 people per year under the Syrian Vulnerable
Person Resettlement programme and to further
commit to long term refugee resettlement
beyond 2021.
We will continue to urge the UK Government to
fundamentally change their approach to housing
asylum seekers. Accommodation must be safe,
suitable and dignified and accommodation
providers need to be held accountable for standards
by local authorities, and in Scotland, our housing
regulator. There must be a legal duty on providers
that there will be no lock changes in eviction cases.
People cannot be made destitute because of a failed
Home Office system.
SNP MPs will push for reform of the detention and
asylum system for LGBT+ individuals escaping
countries where homosexuality is still criminalised,
removing unfair and invasive demands for ‘proof’ of
sexuality or gender identity.
• the introduction of a fair asylum system and an
end to detention for those claiming asylum
• reopening of the Dubs Scheme for
unaccompanied children, ending the scandal of
children being abandoned by the UK,
• the extension of the rules around family
reunification to children,
• a new scheme to ensure that families retain the
right to remain together,
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