Project: Migrants’ Human Rights

We want human rights to be a reality for everyone living in Scotland - including for people who have migrated to Scotland. 

The United Nations defines an international migrant as “any person who has changed his or her country of residence. This includes all migrants, regardless of their legal status, or the nature, or motive of their movement.” 

According to the UN’s Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, all migrants, regardless of their status, are entitled to the same international human rights as everyone else. States have an obligation to migrants as they do to all rights-holders to respect, protect, and fulfil their human rights. 

Yet we know that migrants in Scotland experience many barriers to their human rights. These include accessing information, advice and advocacy; accessing public services; and access to justice when rights are not met.

The Consortium and migrants’ rights

The Consortium includes migrants’ rights and facilitates migrants’ voices across all of our human rights work.

We want to strengthen connections between the human rights & migration sectors.

We want to create more spaces for exchange to share different perspectives and explore migrants’ experiences.

And we want to provide platforms for migrants’ voices to be heard by decision-makers around human rights. In particular, we want to make sure that migrants’ voices are increasingly heard and taken on board in the progression of the Scottish Human Rights Bill.

This project is funded by Paul Hamlyn Foundation.

Can you give your views on migrant-inclusive services?

To realise human rights for all of us living in Scotland, we need to strengthen informed and equitable services for people that are culturally sensitive, provide clear information and advice also in other languages, and enable anti-racist structures.

With migration organisations and groups, we want to explore just what such migrant-inclusive public services should look like.

If you would like to be part of these discussions or provide any insights, experiences or views to shape our work around migrant-inclusive public services, please get in touch at admin@hrcscotland.org.

What we have done so far

Reports

• Read our Migrant’s Guide to Scotland - Your Human Rights in a different Country. The launch of this booklet is a key outcome of the Migrants Participation Project, led by the Human Rights Consortium Scotland with Migrant Voice and funded by the Paul Hamlyn Foundation. It was created in response to barriers migrants face in accessing clear information, services, and justice. Developed through workshops and discussions since 2023, the project ensured migrants directly shaped the content and wider policy conversations. The booklet is a practical, accessible guide to help migrants understand their rights, use services, and engage more confidently in life in Scotland. Read more here.

   

• Read our Migrant Rights Report: Barriers to realising economic, social and cultural rights for migrants in Scotland. The report outlines key barriers migrants in Scotland face in housing, education, and employment rights, driven by systemic, financial, informational, and discriminatory factors. These challenges are interconnected and compound across sectors, limiting wellbeing and opportunities. It calls for coordinated, systemic change to create more equitable and inclusive support for migrants. Read more here.

 

• Read our migrant-specific response to the Scottish Human Rights Bill Consultation from October 2023.

 

• Read our report “A Human Rights Bill for Scotland for All. A report of conversations with migrants to inform the public consultation, August – October 2023” in long version or short version.  Written in partnership with Citizens Rights Project, Maryhill Integration Network, JustCitizens by JustRight Scotland, and Migrant Voice.

 

• Read our report “Human Rights for All: Some recommendations for the Scottish Human Rights Bill on protecting migrants’ human rights” from conversations in 2020 – 2021 in long version or summary. Written in partnership with PKAVS, Scottish Refugee Council, Forth Valley Migrant Support Network, Migrant Voice, JustRight Scotland, Citizens’ Rights Project, Amnesty Scotland and BEMIS.

Recordings

• Listen to a recording from our event on 27 March 2024, launching our report “A Human Rights Bill for Scotland for All: A report of conversations with migrants to inform the public consultation” in which our speakers highlight human rights issues raised in the report as they are experienced by different migrant communities in Scotland. With thanks to our speakers: Noelia Martinez, Citizens Rights Project; Pinar Aksu, Maryhill Integration Network; Mariam Tuma, JustCitizens; Sofi Taylor, Migrant Voice.