Refugees need our support - Bruce

12.01.00am UTC (GMT +0000) Wed 20th Jun 2007

World Refugee Day is a chance to recognise the contribution made by refugees to their host communities

Speaking on World Refugee Day, which aims to draw attention not only to the plight of refugees across the globe but also the contribution they make to their host communities, local MP Malcolm Bruce said:

"I urge people in Scotland, and the media in particular, not to conflate the issues of economic migration and asylum-seeking. We should be celebrating the contribution refugees have made to our history and culture, not vilifying them.

Since 2001, June 20th has been marked by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to highlight the fact that refugees are not simply economic migrants, but are seeking asylum in other countries after fleeing from persecution, threats of imprisonment, or even threats to their lives in their own country. There are currently around 5,000 asylum seekers in Scotland, the majority of whom live in Glasgow.

Mr Bruce, the Gordon MP added:

"As Chair of the International Development Committee, I have seen at first hand some of terrible situations from which refugees are fleeing. Although their plight may seem a long way from our lives in Scotland, we should take some time on June 20th to remember why refugees are forced to leave their homes and families behind, and offer them our support and sympathy in Scotland.

"It's also an opportunity to remember the difficulties faced by hundreds of thousands of internally displaced persons who remain under appalling conditions in their own countries, such as Darfur, northern Uganda and Burma."