Syrian refugees on Bute set the record straight: ‘Don’t listen to what the tabloids say, we love it here’

SPECIAL REPORT

BBY JUDITH DUFFY

ASHAR shows a photograph of a beautiful white, domed, mansion-like building, with a large pool – once it was his home and the site of his clothes manufacturing factory. Like many properties in Damascus, the capital of war-torn Syria, the property no longer exists.

He is now living on Bute, the small island off the west coast of Scotland that has a population of only about 7,000. He arrived in February with his wife and four sons under a scheme to resettle some of the most vulnerable Syrian refugees in the UK.

Bashar, who does not want his last name to be used, says the island is a very different place to the “big city” of Damascus from which he came.

But speaking in English, he says: “Bute is very nice, it is a beautiful island and I love it here. It is a small community here and quiet – and I don’t like the big city now.

“Here more people say hi and smile – in a big city not everyone says that.”

Bashar was one of seven refugees living on Bute who gathered together last week to speak out about their experience of the island following reports in the tabloid press that two of the Syrian families were unhappy living there. About 15 Syrian families have so far been resettled on the island.

According to the Daily Mail article, which locals criticised as “manipulative”, the families said they were feeling isolated and felt the island was a place “full of old people ... [it’s] where people come to die”.

Life on the island is not without its problems; it can be difficult for anyone to find work and none of the refugees who gathered together in Rothesay on Thursday, who are all still learning English, have yet found jobs.

But all are keen to emphasise the positive aspects of their new home, and there is talk of how locals greet them in Arabic. Videos and pictures of a recent visit by Prince Charles to the island are proudly shown. Next month, some of the refugees are taking a business course. Later in the day the group heads off to carry out voluntary work at the island’s musical festival, Butefest.

Bashar, 48, is already making plans for his life on Bute. He says: “In the future I would like to open a restaurant serving Syrian food.”

Mounzer Aldarsani, 31, who came to Bute with his wife and two children, describes how he managed to escape Syria after being imprisoned for seven months and tortured.

He tells how his arrest was only to blackmail him for money and he was forced to sell possessions so his family could pay to get him out.

Now he feels his family is safe on the island, and is volunteering in a local hair salon to gain experience of “Scottish haircuts”, in the hope he can resume work as a hairdresser.

“Living here is very lovely, it is quite the opposite of what one of the papers said, that it was a refuge for old people,” he says. “It is a beautiful place.”

Aldarsani says he was keen to speak out about his own experience to show the article was not representative of all of the Syrian refugees living on Bute.

“I care for the people on the island who have treated me so well and I wouldn’t accept for them to be spoken about in this way,” he says. “I would like to make sure that everyone understands each person represents themselves – myself, I am very happy and comfortable here.” THE Australian family facing deportation have said they are “not giving up” despite their permission to remain in the UK expiring tomorrow.

Kathryn and Gregg Brain moved here in June 2011 with their son, Lachlan, who is now seven. But they have battled to stay in Scotland since the UK Government cancelled the post-study work visa scheme that drew them here. Kathryn said: “We have been praying and hoping for a miracle this week – it is hard enough to find a job, let alone with the extra pressures of not just trying to find a job but something that would fit Home Office requirements.”

Gregg explained: “We could be detained and deported, depending on how the Home Office prioritises our case. It does get stressful, but the dream of wanting to live in Scotland has been such for us for so many years that if this is the price we have to pay to get it done then so be it.” Clockwise from above: Daoud, Bashar and Mounzer on the Isle of Bute, where 15 Syrian families arrived in December 2015 Photographs: Christopher Furlong/Getty and Ross Gilmore

Daoud, 27, who does not want his last name to be used, was imprisoned in Syria for a year before he managed to escape the “war and cruelty”. He says his family was given the “warmest of welcomes” after arriving in Bute – particularly when his daughter was born. “I felt we had come to our new homeland, to live our lives without war and without problems,” he says. “When my daughter was born here I felt there was so much care and help.

“I thank them for everything they have done and I will never forget them. I will be proud for my daughter to grow up Scottish and Syrian at the same time.”

Gary Christie, head of policy at the Scottish Refugee Council, said: “It’s hard for people who had professional jobs and businesses in their home country to find themselves in a new world without the means to support themselves. These families need ongoing support to help them build happy and meaningful lives here.

“Sensationalist headlines designed to stir up divisions help no-one.”