A UK port town is actively attracting hundreds of migrants to combat severe depopulation, despite local concerns over job shortages and declining industry
A struggling Scottish town has launched an ambitious bid to lure hundreds of foreign workers and refugees to stop its population from plummeting. Inverclyde Council has put attracting new arrivals right at the top of its agenda after Greenock lost a staggering 22,000 residents since 1981, leaving the former shipbuilding hub with just 78,000 locals.
Around 750 migrants a year from Africa, Ukraine and Afghanistan are now moving to the area to help plug massive gaps in the local health and social care sectors.
To keep the influx coming, bosses have rolled out dedicated English language tutors, integration events and even “anti-racist education” in local classrooms to help families settle into the port town, reports the Express.
Christianah Omilana, the owner of Anik, an African food shop in Greenock, told the BBC that Scottish people are “lovely and accommodating”. She moved to the UK in 2021 and said further immigrants will make the move “when there is work”.
One of her customers, Sunday, agreed that the town is “lovely” and “friendly”. He added: “If the local council can provide [jobs], everything in Greenock will change, because people [from Africa] would like to come.”
The majority of Greenock’s African population have been attracted by cheap housing. Many work or study in Glasgow while others work in the health and care industry.
However, there is a lack of employment opportunities in the town, with 29-year-old mother-of-one, Tiffany, describing Greenock as a “ghost town”. She said “there are no shops” and “no employment” for local people.
Tiffany saidd: “I’m struggling to find jobs that suit both childcare and myself. I’ve considered moving from here to Paisley because there is so much more to do there.”
Over the last four years, 1,500 jobs have left Greenock, with companies such as Amazon and EE opting to move elsewhere. In 2016, the IBM site near the town, which employed around 5,000 people, shut for good.
Although Stephen McCabe, the leader of Inverclyde Council’s minority Labour-led council, believes the repopulation plan is proving effective, he does note there is an “unease” amongst the community around the arrival of asylum seekers.
The council is participating in a Home Office dispersal scheme but Mr McCabe believes the area has “been allocated a disproportionate share”. He added that migrants and refugees who want to work are welcome.
Last year, a 17-year-old neo-Nazi teenager was jailed for ten years for planning a mass murder at The Inverclyde Muslim Centre in Greenock. He pleaded guilty to terrorism charges at the High Court in Glasgow.
The court heard how he befriended the Mosque’s Imam and expressed an interest in converting to Islam. However, he actually intended to set fire to the building when it was busy with worshippers.