MONKLANDS is bracing itself for the arrival of dozens of refugees from an African country devastated by AIDS - but the council bosses inviting them over admitted to not knowing if they have the killer disease. North Lanarkshire Council is the first local authority in Scotland to sign up for a joint venture between the United Nations and the UK Home Office that offers some of the world’s most vulnerable people a new life. Once the 70 refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo arrive in February they will be entitled to free health care, despite no-one knowing what strain it will put on the NHS. UN staff will screen the Congolese for illnesses like HIV, AIDS and tuberculosis before shipping them over, but when council chief Mary Castles was asked if that would prevent them being let in the country she replied bluntly: “I don’t know the answer to that.” However, the Advertiser can reveal it is possible that the refugees could be let into the country even if they have serious illnesses. The Democratic Republic of Congo has over a million people living with HIV or AIDS, or just over four per cent of the country’s population. The latest figures available estimate that 100,000 people died from the disease in 2003. Although she has spent months preparing for the arrival of the refugees, Mary Castles was unable to say if any of them would be allowed in the country with illnesses such as HIV. In actual fact, the Advertiser was able to establish from the Home Office within minutes that although it is recommended refugees with HIV, AIDS or tuberculosis are not allowed in the country, they can still enter if they have Ministerial consent. However Castles was still adamant that every possible preparation had been made, saying: “We’ve been taking it very slowly to make sure all our bases are covered. We want to get it right. We do have time to prepare for the services people require. “We have taken a careful and considered approach and I one hundred per cent believe this is the right thing to do.” The fact remains the council was not aware if refugees would be allowed into the country with serious diseases and Conservative MSP Margaret Mitchell raised concerns over how thorough the local authority had been. Mitchell, who represents Central Scotland, said: “I would have said that everything should have been gone into thoroughly beforehand. We have a good record of helping people from Third World countries. You can fully understand people wanting to come here to improve their way of life, but you also have a duty to the constituents you represent at present. “I realise it is an emotive issue, but you need to balance helping others with the implications for people here if we are not stringent enough in our precautions.” And the council - which has a lengthy waiting list for homes - will risk further controversy by pushing the foreigners to the top of the queue as soon as they arrive in the country. Castles is the assistant chief executive of NLC and initially tried to reassure potential tenants by saying: “If there is someone sitting at the top of the housing list, that person won’t be over-ridden by a refugee.” NLC has a 22,000-strong waiting list for homes and around 640 homes are vacant at any one time. Pressed on the point that someone will always be at the top of the list, Castles replied: “There will be 60, maybe 70 people arriving. North Lanarkshire is one of the biggest landlords in the country. Can we find them homes without disadvantaging others? I think we can.” The Congolese are coming over as part of the Gateway Protection Programme, which is the UK’s new refugee resettlement scheme. It is funded by the Home Office and the United Nations High Commission for Refugees. On arrival, families will be assigned a tenancy support worker to help them settle in. Within a month of their arrival, the refugees will be looking for work and taking English language courses. Their children will be enrolled in local schools. The Home Office pay all their costs for the first year only, but after that the refugees can claim money from the local authority on the same basis as anyone else. Mary Castles justified the cost by saying: “In terms of after a year, these services should still be cost neutral, because they will be entitled to education and free health services as British citizens are.” | 
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