Latest news with #AngelaO'Hagan
The Herald Scotland
24-05-2025
- Politics
- The Herald Scotland
SNP to 'end hunger and homelessness' in human rights bill
The Scottish Human Rights Commission (SHRC) investigated the situation around economic, social and cultural rights in Argyll and Bute, Hebrides, Highlands, Moray and Northern Isles last year and found that people in these areas faced challenges in accessing basic needs such as health, housing and food. It said it had gathered evidence of difficulties caused by a shortage of affordable housing, centralisation of health services, fuel poverty and unreliable public transport. Ms Stewart set out what the Scottish Government planned to do to address the situation in correspondence to Professor Angela O'Hagan, chair of the SHRC, and the convenes of Holyrood's equalities committee and rural affairs committee sent earlier this week. READ MORE: Sex workers launch campaign to oppose 'dangerous' new law proposed by Ash Regan What is the Nordic Model? The proposals to criminalise 'buyers' of sex 'The SNP are terrified': 'Reform can win by-election - and take power in Holyrood' She said ministers were "committed to bringing forward a Human Rights Bill in the next Parliamentary session, subject to the 2026 Scottish Parliament election". She added: "Proposals for the Bill seek to incorporate the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), along with three other treaties, into Scots law within the limits of devolved competence. "ICESCR includes the right to health, the right to an adequate standard of living (including food and housing), and the right to cultural life, amongst other rights. 'Economic, social, and cultural rights need legal protection. A strong legal framework is required, which the Scottish Government's proposed Scottish Human Rights Bill may address if introduced. Complaint mechanisms must also be improved to ensure they are accessible, affordable, timely, and effective.' The SHRC's report raised concerns over human rights in the Highlands and Islands (Image: Getty Images) The SHRC said in its report that "urgent action is needed to eradicate rooflessness and hunger in the Highlands and Islands" and called for universal access to affordable, acceptable, and quality sexual and reproductive health services to be prioritised and properly funded. Ms Stewart responded: "We agree that rights to food, housing and health are of vital importance to everyone across Scotland and are committed to taking action now to advance these fundamental entitlements." The minister also went on to say a new National Islands Plan would be published separately this year setting out how the government would improve the lives of people on island communities. The SHRC said it carried out its research on human right in the Highlands as it did not understand issues affecting rural and island communities as well as it did those in central Scotland. The commission interviewed community leaders, campaigners, development trusts, teachers, crofters, lawyers, health workers and MSPs. Its findings included that people in Orkney were turning down job offers because they could not find a suitable home, and that victims of abuse there were unable to find accommodation away from alleged offenders. The report also found that the centralisation of health services was leading to 14,000 patients a year from Caithness and Sutherland travelling to Inverness for care, including expectant mothers to give birth. It also revealed that in the Western Isles parents and carers of children and adults with learning disabilities were travelling up to 500 miles weekly to access educational services. A further finding highlights a lack of public transport in Skye and a road infrastructure there that had remained unchanged for the past 20 years despite an increase in visitors. Human Rights were devolved to Holyrood by the Scotland Act 1998. The SHRC said across all rights examined it found not a single human right that met all the conditions of adequacy under international law. It made a number of recommendations to the Scottish Parliament and Scottish Government, including that urgent action should be taken to tackle homelessness, hunger and access to sexual and reproductive health services. Publishing the report in November last year Professor O'Hagan said the commission was very concerned about the poor state of economic, social and cultural rights. She said: "Too many people in Highland and Islands are hungry, homeless, without access to healthcare, and the basics for everyday life. "With this work, we are piloting a new way of monitoring, one that brings the commission closer to communities and enhances their voices and struggles. "While we continue to develop this way of working, we expect that all duty-bearers will reflect carefully on the evidence found in this report, and the action now required from them to meet their human rights obligations."
Daily Record
06-05-2025
- Politics
- Daily Record
Victims of Scotland's ‘Tinker Experiment' work with human rights chiefs to get formal apology
The scheme, which ran between the 1940s and 1980s, was condemned as 'cultural genocide' after it attempted to integrate gypsy travellers into mainstream society. Victims of forced resettlement during Scotland's so-called 'Tinker Experiment' are working with human rights chiefs to get a formal apology. The scheme, which ran between the 1940s and 1980s, was condemned as 'cultural genocide' after it attempted to integrate gypsy travellers into mainstream society. Supported by the UK Government and Scottish local authorities, the programme saw families taken from their homes and forced into accommodation, including cramped huts at sites across the country. Families have reported they were threatened with having their children taken away and put into care if they did not take up the offer. Professor Angela O'Hagan, the Chair of the Scottish Human Rights Commission, said in a new blog and podcast that a team of experts are now working with traveller groups to work out how redress, including a formal apology, should be delivered to victims. She said: 'Scottish gypsy travellers have traditionally experienced some of the most brutal and institutionalised discrimination in Scotland. 'Anything involving the community with 'experiment' in the words should rightly gives us shivers. 'People are still living that legacy in terms of their own family relations and their own physical and mental health but they are also living that legacy in terms of the culturally inappropriate and inadequate we're seeing that right up to the present day.' Prof O'Hagan said experts had been working directly with victims of the 'experiment' since last summer to collate a report documenting the long-term impact on them as well as analysing how redress should be delivered. She said: 'We're scoping out, what are the legal standards? What are the frameworks? Is the evidence meeting the threshold for cultural genocide and what mechanism for redress and apology would be most appropriate? We're trying to provide that legal analysis to support the community.' The Commission's findings are expected to be published by the end of the year. Shamus McPhee, who grew up on the Bobbin Mill site in Pitlochry where he initially lived in a hut with no electricity, has campaigned for a public apology for victims of the scheme that 'decimated' life chances. He previously said it was a 'bone of contention' that formal apologies had been offered to other groups who suffered historic injustices, but not gypsy travellers. Scottish Labour Equalities spokesperson Paul O'Kane said: 'It is welcome that the Human Rights Commission is looking at these important issues. 'This was an incredibly dark time in Scotland's history and we await the findings and recommendations of this research by the Human Rights Commission.' Scottish Lib Dems Equalities spokesperson Christine Jardine MP said prejudicial and discriminatory behaviour had "blighted lives.' She said: 'The 'Tinker Experiment' is an ugly mark on our history and I am glad that the Scottish Human Rights Commission are exploring this issue." In 2021, Nicola Sturgeon said she would consider a formal apology and the Scottish Government went on to commission new research into the 'experiment' in a bid to 'understand events as fully as possible'. A delayed report is expected to be released in the coming weeks. Meanwhile, it emerged last month that gypsy travellers are still being 'systemically failed' in Scotland after housing regulators found 'serious' breaches of accommodation standards. Join the Daily Record WhatsApp community! Get the latest news sent straight to your messages by joining our WhatsApp community today. You'll receive daily updates on breaking news as well as the top headlines across Scotland. No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Daily Record team. All you have to do is click here if you're on mobile, select 'Join Community' and you're in! If you're on a desktop, simply scan the QR code above with your phone and click 'Join Community'. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose 'exit group'. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice. The Scottish Housing Regulator upheld complaints made by families at Perthshire's Double Dykes site and Bobbin Mill. Regulators found 'serious failing' in the standards of accommodation and the authority's approach to communication and engagement with residents. The investigation ruled that the council failed to meet its obligations under Scottish housing laws. Perth and Kinross Council disputed the findings and requested a review. The Scottish Housing Regulator reported failings at another Gypsy Traveller site at Tarvit Mill, in Fife, last year. A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: 'Through our Gypsy/Traveller Action Plan we are driving positive change and tackling inequality for communities across Scotland. 'In 2023 we commissioned independent research to better understand the impact past policies had on our Gypsy/Traveller communities. We are committed to learning important lessons from the 'Tinker Experiment' to ensure that the mistakes of the past are not repeated. 'The final version of the report will be published at the end of this month and we look forward to engaging with the Scottish Human Rights Commission in due course.'
