A group supporting Ukrainian refugees in Scotland delayed the relocation of 14 Ukrainian refugees from the Mercure Hotel in Livingston to Aberdeen on Friday evening.
Officers from the refugee resettlement team at the City of Edinburgh council appeared at the Mercure Hotel to give over a dozen Ukrainian refugees to ask with just three hours' notice if they would be willing to relocate to Aberdeen.
The refugees were described as ‘extremely stressed and upset’ by witnesses, believing they now had to move to having spent three weeks integrating into the West Lothian community, even taking English classes at West Lothian College.
A group supporting Ukrainian refugees with finding individual sponsors, visa applications, and other resources for settling into Scotland, were informed and turned up to help support the asylum seekers.
Despite the hotel being in Livingston, the refugees were under the remit of the City of Edinburgh Council, who have a contract with Mercure Hotel to house Ukrainian refugees.
Latest statistics shows that 1446 refugees arrived in Scotland under the Super Sponsor Scheme, although only 900 have been paired with a ‘sponsor’, or host - meaning 500 refugees have yet to be housed and are currently living in hotels.
The refugees were asked to move to Aberdeen to make room for a fresh wave of refugees coming to Edinburgh, spilling over to the Mercure Hotel in Livingston, despite the refugees expressing their wishes to stay in the central belt.
A Scottish government spokesperson said: “We are working in partnership with the local government and the third sector to ensure all those arriving at our Welcome Hubs are given a ‘Warm Scots Welcome’, with access to temporary hotel accommodation, trauma support, and translation.
“Our national matching service is helping to identify longer-term accommodation across the length and breadth of Scotland, from the generous accommodation offers made by the people of Scotland as well as from local authority and housing association properties.”
“Yesterday a small group of people from Ukraine volunteered to change hotels so that those arriving late at night at Edinburgh Airport could access accommodation close by, rather than having to travel to hotels further afield.
“The Resettlement Team ensured everyone understood this was a voluntary arrangement and that rooms were available should they decide to stay.”
The super sponsor scheme had its guidelines set by COSLA and the Scottish Government, although the care of, and interaction with, refugees falls under the remit of local councils.
Gary Gray, co-founder of ScotHost, said: “This was the most disgusting treatment of human beings we have seen in Scotland, and was not the warm Scottish welcome promised by our First Minister just a few short months ago.
“They’ve worded the questions to the refugees in such a way that they have no real choice, there’s a real difference from the policy put in place by COSLA and the attitude on the front-line.
“The government is using the same model as they did syrian and afghani scheme, placing families in hotels initially before they find accommodation, but Homes for Ukraine is operating under a completely different model.
“Local authorities are trying to figure out how to work it, while thousands of refugees sit in hotels, thousands of people who are signed up to the scheme have yet to hear from the super sponsor scheme at all.”
“At the very least the refugees should be treated with dignity and respect, what they got however was told to relocate at night on a Friday, they were given a notice period of only 3 hours, and have been left languishing in hotels for up to two months now,
“We’re two months into this crisis and it feels like we’re still in the first week.”
The relocation of the 14 Ukrainian refugees in the Mercure Hotel has been delayed until Monday - although a long-term solution has yet to be found for the families.
In response ScotHost have demanded a complete halt to the movement of Ukrainian refugees within Scotland until the Super Sponsor scheme is fully stood up.
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