Stone calls for investment in rural areas such as Caithness to help refugee settlement

A CALL has been made for the Scottish and UK Governments to invest in local councils, transport, and health care to make rural areas such as Caithness suitable for refugee settlement.

It came from far north MP, Jamie Stone, after an Afghan couple spent four months in Wick after fleeing their war-torn country.

Hamid Hakimi (26) and his 19-year-old pregnant wife Maryam have now moved to London as they felt isolated in the far north of Scotland and found it difficult to access services. Hamid, a former interpreter with the British Army, had to travel to Inverness to get the halal food he and his wife require.

The Liberal Democrat MP praised the local community for the warm reception it gave the couple and said: "After speaking to Hamid, I am confident that he and his family are on track to settle in the UK. I commend the Highland Council for everything they did to support the Hakimi family, like providing housing and language support. I had constituents get in touch to ask me to distribute information on local lesser-known halal butchers, to save Hamid from the long journey to Inverness. Things like this make me proud to represent the Highlands.

"However, one must consider that refugees should be placed according to individual need. Highlanders themselves face serious problems when accessing health and maternity services. I cannot imagine how difficult this would be for a couple who are not only expecting a baby, but who have also escaped extremist Taliban rule and found themselves in a foreign land, too far away from maternity support."

Mr Stone, the MP for Caithness, Sutherland and easter Ross, added: "It goes to show that a warm Highland reception is not enough. The UK and Scottish Governments must invest in local councils, transport, and health care in order to make rural areas suitable for refugee settlement. We want to take people in but if governments continue to neglect and centralise our services, families like the Hakimis will continuously be uprooted and relocated, which is the last thing a refugee family need when settling into what should be their new home."

Local SNP MSP, Maree Todd, contacted the couple and offered to meet and support them. She praised the local community for its "positive response".

It is understood the Hakimis moved to London to be closer to relatives and the Afghan community.

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