ONCE again Scotland is in a position redolent with opportunity. Nicola Sturgeon recently stated “We’re in uncharted territory… with the opportunity to try to think things that might have previously been unthinkable and shape the future”. The opportunity here is clear – both to reshape the future and to right some of the wrongs of the past, ensuring families such as the Brains never again endure the infliction of a double injustice as Clearances descendants threatened with forcible removal from the land of their ancestors.
Given current trade and immigration negotiations with both Australia and the EU, this is the time for Scotland to seriously look at the situation of the Clearances descendant diaspora in Australia, Canada, America and New Zealand. Often unable to access ancestry visas, due to their Scottish links extending past their grandparents, they are effectively treated as third class citizens and sent to the back of the queue behind the entire EU. The GlenWyvis Distilleries issue aside – Clearances Descendants such as the Brains should never have been left to mercurial Westminster whims and forced to jump through endless hoops – indeed the family already nearly achieved fulfilment of immigration regulations three times. Clearances diaspora members in non-EU countries are perhaps those likely to most cohesively assimilate into Scottish communities, yet face some of the biggest barriers to remaining. Indeed any family, from anywhere, so integrated within their community like the Brains and showing as serious a commitment to Scottish society and culture by educating their only child in Gaelic and completing a degree in Scottish History & Archaeology, should be allowed to stay.
At the recent Westminster Scottish Affairs Committee Evidence Session on Highlands’ and Islands’ Population Challenges, former HIE Chairman Professor Jim Hunter stated the importance of considering that “the Clearances and famine of 1840’s were only two human lifetimes ago”. He added that “the Highlands and Islands are one of the few places in Northern Europe where the population today is lower than it was 200 years ago” and that it was “Extraordinarily difficult to see a future for a community where young people are disappearing like snow on a dyke”. Alistair Danter of Business Gateway Skye and Lochalsh put it more bluntly “We need breeding pairs”, the Brains being, well, a no-brainer.
Asked about about cultural activity aiding the repopulation of the Highlands, Prof Hunter answered that “Cultural investment generates economic spinoffs in a very direct way – it’s just as important as financial and economic investment and also to incomers to feel that they’re coming into something distinctive”. While young Highlanders and Islanders naturally to want to explore and travel to new areas, plenty of people growing up in cities and suburbs abroad feel the same and the spectacular beauty and opportunity of a different lifestyle for their children remains a strong draw for many to the Highlands and Islands.
According to Dr Caroline Gould of the Skye & Lochalsh Access Panel, “A tsunami of dementia is on the way” with a 149 per cent average percentage increase forecast in people aged 60+ in Skye & Lochalsh - far higher than many areas of the UK. Despite this, Skye is one of the few post-Clearance & Famine regions experiencing relative success in repopulation, yet many other areas still face acute difficulties.
Nicola Sturgeon stated that “for a country that needs to grow its population to help deal with an ageing population, free movement matters”. Clearances descendants should also matter. When countless thousands of Scots were forced from Europe, with so many dying during the dangerous sea journeys, Scotland has a moral duty to assist Clearances descendants who want to return home, and not just for some superficially themed year. Not to act risks disinheriting the diaspora, whose huge interest in Scotland and beneficial economic impact via tourism is inherently acknowledged by such Homecoming Year initiatives.
The time has come for a comprehensive Scottish-led solution for the Clearances diaspora. This week it’s the Brains of Australia, tomorrow it could be the MacKenzies of New Zealand, the Campbells of Canada or the MacLeods of America. Scotland has already seen job losses from Westminster renewable energy development cuts, and the challenges faced by the Brains sends deeply negative messages to Scotland’s diaspora, who should be viewed as one of Scotland’s greatest natural resources. Deportation could result in the Brains and young Gaelic-speaking Lachlann being automatically banned from returning to Scotland for five to 10 years. This would be a disgraceful injustice and the fact that it has even arisen needs to be addressed. Scotland can and must do better for its Clearances diaspora. We cannot change the past but we can certainly change the future and as Scotland once again finds itself in a position redolent with opportunity, the time to act is now.
Australian-born Clearances descendant Ariel Killick is a Scottish-based Gaelic artist.
Brain family still clinging on to hope they can stay in Scotland as deportation deadline passes
‘The unique position makes it hard to see how Brain family's dilemma can be resolved by Whitehall'
Home Office launches new post-university visa trial ... but only in England
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here