Friday September 27th 2024
Written by Midlothian View Reporter, Luke Jackson
Colin Beattie MSP delivered a speech in the Scotland Stands with Ukraine debate. He said:
“Thank you presiding officer.
“As convenor of the cross-party group on Ukraine I am pleased to have the opportunity to take part in this debate on Ukraine and to highlight the hope and support the Scottish government has given and is still giving to Ukrainian refugees.
“I doubt many Ukrainians who have come to our country are happy to be a refugee. so many have been separated from their country. their families. their friends. Their work. their education. Everything which is familiar to them. To be brought to a new country with a new culture and language must be difficult to say the very least.
“Yet when we look at the situation where they have come from most of us are horrified. the invasion of the sovereign nation of Ukraine by Russia shocked the world. no one could have conceived the barbarity with which Russia would pursue its illegal war. the dreadful treatment of Ukrainian civilians and prisoners of war was far below that expected of a civilised nation. the fact that these acts, of what i believe to be war crimes, took place on an industrial scale – and worse……. continue to do so, must appal all the civilised world. Ukraine is at war with a rogue state which does not respect either human beings or civilian property.
“It is no secret that the Russian state has little more respect for the wellbeing of its own people as it has for Ukrainians. no one really knows the casualties which Russia has sustained with its mad policy of using its own soldiers as cannon fodder.
“The courage and resilience of Ukraine and its people will go down in history.
“So where does Scotland come into this?
“Quite rightly the Scottish government has provided exceptional support. let me list a few: –
“Military aid. as part of the UK Scotland has shared in the contributing of hundreds of millions of pounds in assistance to the Ukraine military.
“Since February 2022 the Scottish government has provided more than £4 million funding for humanitarian aid.
“The innovative super sponsor scheme which allowed thousands of Ukrainians to relocate to Scotland. Scotland has the highest number of total applications and arrivals per head of population of any of the four nations of the UK.
“The Ukraine longer term settlement fund has contributed more than £ 50 million for registered social landlords to bring properties into use and to increase the supply of housing. by July 2024 nearly 1300 properties had been brought into use.
“Warm Scots future for Ukraine has provided £1.5 million to third sector organisations and £ 3.2 million to local authorities to support staffing of recruitment teams.
“This is only some of the initiatives supporting Ukrainians in Scotland.
“You do not have to look far to find other groups providing support in many shapes and forms. I could mention organisations such as PickUpsForPeace who specialize in securing and supplying unwanted four-wheel drive vehicles to Ukraine and as I look about at the composition of our CPG I recognise the extraordinary resilience of the Ukrainian people in their present adversity. I recognise the energy and the talent which they represent. Our Ukrainian guests do not simply sit back and wait for handouts to be doled out to them. They actively work together and with local partners to better their situation.
“Yet however welcome our Ukrainian refugees might be made in Scotland – it is not the home they came from. It is hard to read of the atrocities carried out against the Ukrainian people and be unmoved.
“One such which i have found especially concerning are the reports of the forcible removal of Ukrainian children to Russia where they are brain washed into becoming Russian. Where they are separated from their parents and adopted by Russian parents far from their own country.
“I was sufficiently unhappy that i sought to pass a motion through this parliament condemning this. In this motion i mentioned the fact that Russian president Vladimir Putin and the Russian commissioner for children’s rights in the office of the president of the Russian federation, Maria lvova-Belova were subject to an international arrest warrant issued in February 2023 in connection with war crimes relating to kidnapping of children and forced deportations.
“Alas the chamber desk rejected this motion since the persons named were subject to GDPR and could not be named. This despite the fact that the arrest warrant had been reported widely in the international media.
“One solution suggested was to obtain written permission from the two named persons to use their names in this context. Accordingly, i wrote to President Putin and to commissioner lvova-Belova seeking their permission.
“I wrote to them care of the Russian consulate general in Edinburgh and received a very prompt response from the consul general categorically refusing permission for the persons to be mentioned in any motion. I have respected that request, and they are not mentioned in any motion from myself by name as being subject to an international arrest warrant.
“Helpfully the Russian consul general enclosed a bulletin from commissioner lvova-Belova dated October 2023. It was heartwarming to hear how happy the Ukrainian children were at being in camps where they were placed for their security, well-being, and to protect them. medical and psychological support was being provided. Schooling was available at all levels.
“I could go on but frankly i found it difficult read such crude propaganda.
“I believe that Scotland must speak out against the actions of Russia in this war of aggression. it is too easy simply to stand by – yet Ukraine is not so very far away from our own shores.
“I certainly feel threatened by what is happening around us yet too many seem to be complacent that nothing bad will come to our country. I hope that they are correct.
“For the present i welcome the support which the Scottish government continues to give to our Ukrainian friends and wish them well in their new country however long they choose to remain.”
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