Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser
Refugees welcomed to their new homes in Lanarkshire
Thirty- six Syrian refugees received a warm welcome to their new homes in Lanarkshire at a special gathering held in Airdrie’s Sir John Wilson town hall.
The families – who have been housed in Motherwell and Bellshill – arrived over the last few weeks as part of the UK Government’s Syrian Refugee Resettlement Programme.
They were joined at the welcoming event by the first group of 43 refugees, who fled the Syrian conflict, to be relocated in Airdrie and Coatbridge last November and January of this year.
At the time, Nor th Lanarkshire Council became one of the first in Scotland to lend its support to the Scottish Government’s commitment to accommodate 2000 people affected by the ongoing civil war in Syria, which began five years ago.
The local authority were represented by elected members – including Councillor Pat O’Rourke, chair of the member officer working group which oversees the Syrian Refugee Resettlement Programme – along with representatives from Police Scotland, the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service and local volunteers who have offered support to the families at the town hall welcome event.
Councillor O’Rourke said: “The council is very pleased to welcome our second group of refugees to North Lanarkshire, and I know they will receive all the support they need from our staff, elected members, partners and the local communities of Motherwell and Bellshill.
“Already the families are settling into their homes, and the children are ready to start school in the new term.
“We understand the anxiety the families must feel arriving in a new country after all they have experienced in Syria and the refugee camps, so we have a full support programme in place to reassure them and help them adjust to their new lives.”