Mark Ruskell: Free bus travel for asylum seekers would change lives

It is a system that thrives on scapegoating, dehumanisation and division and often locks people into a cycle of isolation and state-sanctioned poverty.

It is in reaction to this dystopian nightmare that people have campaigned for free bus travel for those currently awaiting asylum decisions.

A recent survey by Asylum Matters of 300 people seeking asylum found that 91% did not have enough money to buy food, 75% could not afford the medicines they needed, and 95% were not able to travel where they needed to by public transport.

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It would be a small act of kindness after unimaginable horror and persecution and would open up our communities and our country while sending a message about the kind of country we want Scotland to be.

It was 12 months ago that the Scottish Government committed to rolling out the scheme. I was in the hall in Dunfermline when Scottish Green co-leader Lorna Slater announced it to members at our party conference.

A lot of us were elated, with it coming after years of campaigning by refugee rights groups, community groups and MSPs from all parties.

However, this August it was announced that the policy was being dropped, with the Government citing budget constraints.

At first I couldn’t believe it.

This was only a tiny fraction of the amount that is being ploughed into major road-building projects, and funding had been committed in the budget only a few months prior.

A bus passes the Duke of Wellington statue in Glasgow city centre It was a broken promise, and a betrayal of everyone who had worked so hard and waited so long for this simple change.

This week we had time slots for two Scottish Green debates in Parliament, and we used one of them to call for the Government to recommit to the scheme.

It was an emotional debate and, by the end of it, the SNP voted for our motion for it to be introduced by 2026.

It was an important moment, but now we must ensure they deliver.

We need to see practical progress and a timescale for implementation, particularly if we want to restore faith among those who have felt let down and disappointed.

It is a small change but one that will make a big difference to some of the most marginalised people in our society.

It was proven to work in a Glasgow pilot scheme, with those who benefited describing it in transformative terms. A national rollout will improve lives in some of our most vulnerable communities.

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During the debate I used my speech to reflect on the positive impact that it would have on the 180 of my Perthshire constituents who are stuck

in the system, living in hotels and being forced to live on as little as £8.86 per week.

A day bus pass around Perthshire costs half of their weekly allowance. A bus to Glasgow to see family or their immigration lawyer would be £13.

If people have to save for weeks to afford such essential journeys then they will be stuck and cut off from the country around them.

There are stories of people being unable to access outpatient appointments due to harsh financial barriers imposed by allowances. People who have come from war zones and suffered extreme physical and mental trauma, who absolutely need and deserve medical care.

The Tories used the debate to pit communities against each other, with their new transport spokesperson, Sue Webber, using her speech to present a fake choice between supporting people in the asylum system or supporting pensioners.

It was shocking, but not completely unexpected from the party that introduced so many of the hoops and restrictions that have made the system so abhorrent in the first place.

For me this has always been an issue of basic respect and humanity and recognising the power of government to change and improve people’s lives.

Voluntary organisations like Refuweegee and Bikes for Refugees, and informal groups who support people seeking asylum across Scotland, while amazing and necessary, cannot be viewed as an alternative to government support.

The Scottish Parliament might not have the powers to create our own asylum system, but we do have the ability and responsibility to use what powers we have to support those who have come to Scotland in search of protection.

That is why it is crucial that free bus travel is given to people seeking asylum across Scotland as soon as possible.