Hello, my name is Lutfi and I live in Edinburgh for 16 years and in Scotland for 21 years. I live here with my wife and 3 children. I run my own takeaway business. I am an Alevi and am a very active member of the Alevi community of which there is a large number in Edinburgh. I believe that language barriers are a major issue in terms of engaging with the Scottish Parliament I do feel that this is a general problem for people in the Alevi community. Although I do not feel that I personally have a major language problem, there are points that I struggle with, and I know that this is a general issue for many as others in our community. In addition to everything not necessarily being accessible because we have people that do not speak much English, some of the jargon used can be harder to understand and as such, I think that it causes a barrier for not fully knowing what is being said. The other reason I find it hard to take part is that both myself and others within my community of a certain age group do not have a great deal of knowledge about the workings of parliament and as such I feel that people, including myself to a degree, do not have as much interest in what parliament does and communicating with parliament itself. This is also the case for many of our youths. What would make it easier for me to share my views is the recognition of the Alevi community and other minority communities within the Scottish Parliament. The Alevi community may be a minority group however we are a large number of integrated individuals within the Scottish community, not just in Edinburgh. If people could see that the Scottish parliament recognises us as an important part of Scotland then people in our community, as well as myself and my family, would want to be in communication with the Scottish Parliament.
Buddy system from Hisham's community to show them ropes, how they access
Feels like a minority, not just with people with language barriers, lots of Scottish people might feel like a minority in relation to know what the Scottish Government/SP does. Encouragement for people to learn English, so they do not feel isolated and feel more integrated within the community. Many people are not engaged with SP, not just individuals with a language barrier.
Encourage people to learn the language, so that people do not feel isolated. buddy system of people from the same community/languages, so that they can help people access the Parliament.
This content is created by the open source Your Priorities citizen engagement platform designed by the non profit Citizens Foundation