Refugee Festival Scotland 2021

That the Parliament warmly welcomes the Refugee Festival Scotland 2021, which again promises to be an inspiring and diverse series of online events, from 14 June until World Refugee Day on 20 June, spanning arts and crafts, literature and poetry, dance, political activism, and a range of family friendly sessions with, and for, children, with a thread through them all of bringing people together in the best traditions of the festival; applauds the resilience and courage of the refugee communities, groups and individuals, in contributing to their new communities across the country, helping neighbours to get through the public health emergency together and to come out with stronger relationships than before the COVID-19 pandemic; notes with concern the apparent hardening of the hostile environment, with the UK Government’s new plan for immigration reportedly imperilling the right to seek refugee protection, on the 70th anniversary of the Refugee Convention, and resolves to stand together with refugees.