Scots living in the Highlands and Islands feel “unheard, disenfranchised, abandoned and forgotten,” according to a damning new report from the Scottish Human Rights Commission (SHRC).

The study, based on extensive community visits and interviews, reveals communities struggling with inadequate access to essential services, including healthcare, escalating living costs, and a growing sense of being forgotten.

The SHRC found that minimum core obligations — the most basic economic, social and cultural rights, which a country needs to comply with under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) — are not being met.

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The report warns of a "regression or deterioration of rights," which it says has been “exacerbated by decisions on budget reductions or indeed the complete elimination of previously existing services, without sufficient mitigating measures.”

Many communities told the commissioner of a decline in the availability of healthcare, social care, and education services, with centralisation cited as a major contributing factor.

There are particular concerns over maternity care and gynaecological services.

In 2016, a decision was made to downgrade the maternity provision at Wick hospital, requiring women to travel to Inverness for care.

Women in labour have to travel up to four hours to Raigmore Hospital, often relying on public transport if private transport is unavailable.

For those in most areas of Sutherland, no public transport is available.

Women surveyed by the Commission human rights defenders “reported feeling unsafe, terrified by the journey due to night-time travel, the possibility of giving birth en route, adverse weather conditions, and the presence of deer on the roads".

As a result, “some women are choosing not to have more children or are moving out of the area to avoid giving birth at Raigmore".

The report states that “some women have lost their fertility due to delays in accessing Raigmore Hospital in emergencies, with reported cases of ovarian torsion and haemorrhage".

One told the Commission, “Women don’t feel safe anymore. It’s barbaric. We don’t matter up here. That’s what it feels like."

Other services, including blood diagnostics, hip checks, and hearing tests for babies, are no longer provided in Wick and must be accessed in Inverness.

On housing, the body found a “significant number of people across the Highlands and Islands” living in “conditions of rooflessness," including temporary caravans, camping pods, or "sofa-surfing".

One of the drivers behind the lack of affordable homes is the influx of workers for large-scale infrastructure projects.

Often these projects last three to five years, but the Commissioners point out that “rather than negotiating an investment in building housing for staff which could benefit the local communities post-projects,” local authorities approve them “without assessing their impact on local housing or requiring companies to build their own housing.”

They said this had driven up prices in Shetland, and Argyll and Bute because of the limited rental market and the fact that many of those moving in are “higher-paid professionals, making it unaffordable for locals to rent.”

In most areas, the lack of affordable housing was a central reason why young people were not able to return to their local areas after leaving to study or work elsewhere.

The Commission also raised concerns over access to food, with reports many people are relying on food banks as they have to “prioritise fuel over food.”

This, the report states, is a direct consequence of the need to travel for work and healthcare, as well as the high cost of heating homes.

A lack of public transport “further compounds the problem.”

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The impact on education is also stark, with teacher shortages, limited subject options, and difficulties accessing schools due to transport issues affecting students' right to a quality education.

One teacher told the Commissioners: "If there is one thing we would like Parliament to know—stop ignoring us and our problems; provide baseline staffing instead of allocation dependent on pupil numbers; provide public transport so young people can connect".

Another added: "Without accepting that there is a higher cost for education—you are saying that people cannot live in remote and rural Scotland."

Professor Angela O’Hagan is Chair of the Scottish Human Rights Commission said: “The Commission is very concerned about the poor state of economic, social and cultural rights in the Highlands and Islands.

“Too many people in Highland and Islands are hungry, homeless, without access to healthcare, and the basics for everyday life.

“With this work, we are piloting a new way of monitoring, one that brings the Commission closer to communities and enhances their voices and struggles.

“While we continue to develop this way of working, we expect that all duty-bearers will reflect carefully on the evidence found in this report, and the action now required from them to meet their human rights obligations.”

Dr Luis F Yanes, Project Lead and report author said: “Economic, social and cultural rights are essential for people living a dignified life, free from fear and want.

“Many people in the Highlands and Islands feel unheard, disenfranchised, abandoned, and forgotten, with their human rights concerns discarded or minimised.

“This report enhances the voices of those living in the Highlands and Islands, demonstrating that urgent action is needed to realise these human rights for many people across the region.”

Responding to the report, a Scottish Government spokesperson said:

“We recognise the rights to food, housing and health and that is why we have taken action to advance human rights in practice now, as well as to prepare the public sector for new duties in the future in relation to the rights highlighted in the report.

“We believe that no one should have to compromise on food or other essentials and have published a plan, grounded in human rights, to tackle this.

“We are taking forward nine actions to improve access to food, using a cash-first approach so that fewer people need to turn to food parcels.

“Scotland has the strongest protections across the UK nations for people experiencing homelessness and local authorities have a legal duty to provide accommodation for anyone facing homelessness.

“From April 2016 to March 2023, the Scottish Government has supported the delivery of more than 10,000 affordable homes across rural Scotland.

“Our commitment to deliver 110,000 affordable homes, of which at least 70% will be for social rent and 10% in our rural and island communities, is backed up by our Rural and Islands Housing Action Plan.

“We have established a National Centre for Remote and Rural Health and Care to support health and social care providers to establish long-term sustainable healthcare in rural and island areas.

“The aim of the Centre is to help reduce remote, rural and island health and wellbeing inequalities through focused work on improving sustainability, capacity and capability of remote, rural and island primary care and community-based workforce and service delivery.”