JustCitizens is a JustRight Scotland project advocating for everyone living in Scotland to be able to access equal rights, regardless of their immigration status. We want to explore what a fairer, more just type of citizenship might look like in Scotland – one where everyone feels like they belong.
Just Citizens is founded upon two main beliefs; firstly, that everyone living in Scotland should have the right to access services, safety, and inclusion in society. This right needs to extend to all people living in Scotland, including asylum seekers, refugees, EU nationals, and migrants from many other backgrounds. Secondly, that those with lived and learned experience of migration are best suited to identify the main gaps and barriers to the realisation of this goal.
Although legal citizenship remains a matter reserved to the UK government, many dimensions of social citizenship are can be guaranteed by the Scottish government- including access to social rights in Scotland. Based on theories of social citizenship, JustCitizens provides a platform for exercising social rights and campaigning for an end to barriers to participation in society for migrants in Scotland.
Through co-production and co-creation, we work with members of our panel to identify key areas of advocacy and campaigning. The panel draws upon lived and learned experience, community research, and established networks to widen the scope of our work and address important gaps in policy. The panel is supported by our Just Citizens project team which provide additional legal, policy, campaigning and communications expertise.
The panel consists of individuals with lived experience of migration who have made Scotland their home. Our members come from a diverse range of backgrounds, representing different forms of migration experience, expertise, academic knowledge, and professional work experience.
Our approach will always be collaborative. We are actively committed to embodying non-performative participation work. Our goal – to find strategies that work, to create networks where we can share our knowledge and to build the case for a more just definition of citizenship.
JustCitizens is a project of JustRight Scotland, a Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation (SC047818) which provides legal services through its limited liability partnership, JustRight Scotland LLP which trades as JustRight Scotland (SO305962).
This firm has been authorised to act as solicitors by the Law Society of Scotland (Registered No 53703).
