A Highland businessman who heads up two anti-crime groups said yesterday he was “shocked and disgusted” that three homeless people died in Inverness last year.
The deaths were mentioned during a conference in the city which focused on homelessness and the increasing element of migrants sleeping rough in the north.
Highland Council confirmed there were three city deaths involving homeless people last year. All three deaths were related to alcohol or drug addiction.
Jim Ferguson, chairman of Crimestoppers Highland and the Inverness Crime Prevention Panel, urged the Scottish and Westminster governments to have “a balanced, open and constructive debate” on migration.
And, responding to figures from caring agencies suggesting a quarter of the 50 regular rough sleepers in Inverness were migrants, he called for tighter controls on immigration levels, particularly in a recession.
“We’ve had three deaths on the streets of Inverness through rough sleeping,” Mr Ferguson said. “I think that’s just shocking. We need to ensure we’re recording the amount of people coming here and how long they’re planning on staying. I’m not suggesting we stop them coming in or that we make life difficult.
“I’m just suggesting we take note of where they’re going and which areas they’re in, so we can properly target the right resources to them in terms of housing, healthcare, English language provision, policing and affordable housing.”
He warned that, without accurate statistics, the situation “can get out of control” because authorities can be ill-prepared.
He said: “The thing I want to establish is what the Scottish and Westminster governments are going to do about it. They should listen to the vast majority of people in the UK who say there now has to be a balanced and managed process of migration.”
Highlands and Islands SNP MSP Dave Thompson reminded him that the UK had signed up to a European Union agreement guaranteeing free movement of goods and people. He said: “You would need to set up a huge bureaucratic machine to trace the movements of every single person, not only when they come into the UK from other European countries but when they’re within the UK.
“And if we stop people coming in we would have to watch out for the repercussions for all the Highlanders living and working on the continent.”
Almost 2,500 homeless people sought council help last year.