Update 14/10/2024
On 9th October the issue of free bus travel was raised by the Scottish Greens within Scottish Parliament. The Parliament voted overwhelming to endorse free travel, and following this the Scottish Government promised to revive the policy by 2026. This is welcome news, and the onus is now on the Scottish Government to deliver this life changing policy in as timely a manner as is possible.
However, as we learned earlier this year complacency is not a strategy. Pressure needs to be kept up to ensure that this promise is not reneged on again. Every delay can be measured in appointments missed, opportunities lost and integration postponed. So we would encourage you to keep speaking to your representatives and asking when this policy will be delivered.
Update 27/08/2024
Quick link to MSP letter template
On 19th August 2024 the Scottish Government announced that it will be cancelling their planned national pilot of free bus for asylum seekers. This is in spite of the pilot being promised in the programme for government, and in the New Scots Delivery Plan.
This is a huge disappointment. Campaigners and faith communities have been arguing for years that this policy would be life changing. People seeking asylum are prohibited from working and often living on as little as £8.86 per week, making bus tickets simply unaffordable (a day ticket in Glasgow costs £5.60).
Free travel would allow people seeking asylum to use public transport to attend appointments, visit places of worship, stay connected with friends, access our beautiful countryside and more. This would reduce isolation and drastically improve people’s mental health.
This policy has support across society. It has been advocated for by refugee organisations, called for faith leaders and achieved cross-party support in the Scottish Parliament. Scotland had the opportunity to be a leader in welcoming asylum seekers. Instead this becomes yet another broken promise for people who have so often been let down by government policies.
We are urging faith communities to contact their MSPs and ask that the Scottish Government reconsider this decision. We want to remind them that this policy would be hugely positive for some of the most vulnerable people in our society.
Here is a link to a letter template that is free to be used when writing to your MSP.
Scottish Religious Leaders Forum Statement on Free Bus Travel for Asylum Seekers
Our faith communities are united in welcoming those seeking sanctuary in Scotland. We believe that treating others as we would hope to be treated is not only a vital part of our faiths but also core to humane, just and cohesive communities.
More families and communities are being pushed into poverty, and destitution. Limited financial resources are restricting choices and opportunities to flourish in every area of people’s lives.
Transport is often an insurmountable cost for low-income households. Not being able to travel limits people in their ability to access food and essentials, education, doctor’s appointments and a large number of other services. It also restricts people in practicing their religion as travelling to a faith community becomes unaffordable.
In particular for people seeking asylum, surviving on a pitiful weekly allowance of £45 (much less in some cases) and not being permitted to work, these transport costs are simply unattainable.
People seeking asylum have shared testimonies with us about the impact of not being able to travel has on their mental health and well-being, being isolated and cut off from friends and communities by no fault of their own. The choice of buying a day bus ticket in Glasgow can leave a person seeking asylum with just over a pound for food and any other essentials that day – just enough to buy a carton of milk. We believe access to free bus travel is positively life-changing and mentally transformative for those otherwise stuck in an inadequate and slow asylum system. It would foster two-way integration and help build stronger and more resilient communities as it allows people to actively participate in activities such as English language practice, and religious worship and fellowship.
We add our voices to those of existing campaigners and urge the Scottish Government to extend concessionary bus travel to provide free bus transport for people seeking asylum in Scotland, and that this should be long-term and in the interests of integration. National free bus travel for people seeking asylum (an expansion of schemes for those aged 5-22 and 60+) would be a unique intervention the Scottish Government could deliver to effectively and immediately change the lives of people in our communities in the midst of an otherwise hostile policy environment towards those seeking asylum.
We applaud the work of the third sector across Scotland who work tirelessly to support the destitute and marginalised in our communities. We continue to commit to walk alongside refugees and people seeking asylum, to pray with and to support all those adversely impacted by inequality, poverty and systemic failures. We look hopeful to a future in Scotland where everyone has the opportunity to thrive and contribute to their communities.
List of Signatories (in alphabetical order)
Kate Arnot: Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) General Meeting, Scotland
Lieut-Colonel Carol Bailey: Secretary for Scotland, The Salvation Army
Shabir Beg: Chair of Scottish Ahlul Bayt Society
Allan Forsyth: Baha’i Office of Public Affairs (Scotland)
Rt Rev Sally Foster-Fulton: Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland
Rev Bonnie Evans Hills: Convener Scottish Episcopal Church Interfaith Relations Committee
Madhu Jain: Hindu Mandir Glasgow
Ani Lhamo: Kagyu Samye Ling Buddhist Centre
Bishop Brian McGee: Bishop of Argyll and the Isles, Chair of the Catholic Bishops’ Committee for
Interreligious dialogue
Acharya Ji Mishra: Priest of Hindu Mandir Glasgow
Ravinder Kaur Nijjar: Advisor Sikhs in Scotland and Chair of Religions for Peace UK Women of Faith
Network
Isadora Quay: Baha’i Office of Public Affairs (Scotland)
Imam Hassan Rabbani: Imam of Zia-Ul-Quran Mosque, Muslim Chaplain at Heriot-Watt University,
Chair of Scottish Muslim Forum
Imam Sayed Razawi: Chief Imam and Director General, Scottish Ahlul Bayt Society
Lama Yeshe Losal Rinpoche: Abbot of Kagyu Samye Ling Buddhist Centre
Rabbi David Rose: Edinburgh Hebrew Congregation
Rabbi Moshe Rubin: Giffnock and Newlands Hebrew Congregation, Senior Rabbi of Scotland
Dr Maureen Sier: Director of Interfaith Scotland
Rev Mark Slaney: Chair of the Synod of the Methodist Church in Scotland
Rev Fiona Smith: Principal Clerk to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland
Most Rev Mark Strange: Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church
Linsay Taylor: Muslim, Chair of Interfaith Scotland and Chair of the Scottish Religious Leaders’ Forum
Srihari Vallabhajousula: Priest of Hindu Temple of Scotland (South Indian Cultural Centre of Scotland
Branch)
Rev Paul Whittle: Moderator of The United Reformed Church National Synod of Scotland
Scottish Faiths Action for Refugees