Conference notes that one of Scotland’s greatest assets is its large global diaspora, which is one of the largest per capita to the home country of any nation in the world; Conference recognises that although this has helped raise Scotland’s international profile, the size of the diaspora is due to waves of devastating depopulation, most notably from the clearances of Highlands and Islands, but also more recently in 20th century flight from Scotland’s cities. Conference agrees that population decline is likely to be one of Scotland’s greatest challenges in the 21st Century.
Conference agrees that modern life is transient, and that people are more likely than ever to live in multiple countries across their lives; Conference further notes that often moving abroad can be temporary, but it can be difficult to make the move back without adequate support.
Conference notes that many other countries with sizeable diasporas have created Government Ministries and Agencies to conduct relations with their diasporas, such as Ireland, Mexico, and India; Conference therefore calls on the Scottish Government to create a Minister for the Diaspora and to furnish the role with the necessary powers to create material connections to Scots living abroad with a view to encouraging and assisting 1st, 2nd, and 3rd generation Scots to travel and imigrate to Scotland, and to implement the long-term ambition of building a ‘Diaspora Community’ that will help export Scotland to the world. Conference further agrees that such a role should include within its remit outreach with those outside of Scotland to further increase immigration to Scotland as well as engagement with those who have recently moved to Scotland in order to make them feel as welcome as possible
Conference further calls on the YSI NEC to undertake engagement with the Scottish Government to encourage them to implement this change.