REFUGEES in North Ayrshire will be offered continued help by the council.

North Ayrshire Council has already agreed, over a five-year period, to accommodate up to 100 refugees who have been forced to flee their homes in Syria. 

Since November last year, eight families - 39 people in total – have found a new home in the region

And this week, the council’s cabinet extended its humanitarian commitment by assisting in a UK Government programme to widen the asylum dispersal of adults and unaccompanied children.

On Tuesday, the Labour administration approved a report on the scheme which aims to identify areas across the UK where asylum seekers can be given a chance to rebuild their lives.

Council Leader Joe Cullinane said: “We are witnessing the biggest humanitarian crisis for generations and cannot sit idly by while men, women and children are forced to leave behind everything they have ever known.

“War, violence and oppression have forced millions of people to flee their homes in search of safety and we are prepared to play our part.

“Humanitarian protection is a key principle for the council and that’s why we will do whatever we can to offer help to those who need it most”

The council has already committed to the Afghan Relocation Scheme and the Syrian Refugee Resettlement Programme and, in November 2015, North Ayrshire Council welcomed a number of refugees from Syria.

This latest initiative from the UK Government is in response to the unprecedented number of refugees and asylum seekers as a result of the crisis in Syria as well as other parts of the Middle East and North Africa.

The Government intends to widen asylum dispersal to identify areas that may be suitable for adults and unaccompanied children seeking asylum.

The number of people seeking asylum has been rising year-on-year since 2010, reaching 32,414 in 2015. 

Based on current estimates, it is expected that number could rise to 45,000 this year. 

The majority of asylum seekers to the UK are from Eritrea, Sudan, Pakistan, Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Home Office is, at this stage, seeking voluntary participation for wider dispersal throughout the UK and looking for an indication on the numbers of each local authority could accommodate.

At Tuesday’s meeting, Cabinet members endorsed council officers working with the Home Office and COSLA to develop proposals on how the council can extend its humanitarian commitment by assisting in the widening of asylum dispersal.