A YOUNG Syrian refugee arrived at her new home on the Isle of Bute as the local community welcomed its new residents.
The young mother and her child are part of a group of 15 families being housed on Bute, which is home to around 6,500 people, as part of the government’s move to give refuge to 20,000 people in the UK by 2020.
The refugees sailed across to Rothesay on a ferry from Gourock, having flown in to Glasgow earlier.
It will be a wintry welcome for the families as Storm Desmond sweeps across the country.
Those arriving on Bute are understood to be from smaller towns or rural backgrounds in Syria and Argyll and Bute councillors hope this will make it easier for them to adjust to island life.
Locals have already been preparing by collecting children’s clothes and food parcels while a pop-up community centre has been established to help the families settle in to their new lives.
However, local councillor Isobel Strong said the welcome would initially be low-key to allow the new arrivals time to settle down and adjust to their new lives on the Firth of Clyde island.
The refugees have been granted five-year humanitarian visas which gives them the right to work and access benefits if needed.
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