Ukrainian refugees currently staying on a ferry docked in Leith as emergency accommodation could be forced to reside there until December 2024 if longer term options are not found.
The Scottish government has paid £100m to license the boat as well as another vessel on its way to Glasgow from the company Corporate Travel Management. Their contract runs until December 12, 2024, and the SNP have refused to rule out using the accommodation for these purposes until then.
The MS Victoria ferry is normally used for overnight trips between Tallinn and Stockholm by Tallink, the Estonian shipping company that owns it. Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton said: "This [ferry] may be comfortable now, but by Christmas it could be a floating refugee camp. Nobody would want to stay in a hotel or on a cruise liner for more than a couple of weeks.”
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Cole-Hamilton added: “You can't forge links with your community, you can't begin to settle while you are living out of a suitcase in that way." The Ukrainian refugees currently residing on the ship were unable to have visitors around to their accommodation, with MSPs being informed that there were 1,400 people currently living on the ferry with around 500 children.
Neil Gray, the Scottish government's refugee minister, said: “I want to be in a situation where we are able to get people out of temporary accommodation and into longer-term accommodation and allow them to rebuild their lives”. However, Mr Gray maintained that the current deal offered "value for money" while reiterating that he didn’t want refugees staying on the ferry "any longer than is absolutely necessary".
Housing those affected by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has been a struggle for the Scottish government. Last month, it suspended its ‘super sponsor’ scheme due to a lack of beds on offer but reintroduced the unlimited cap after a series of complaints.
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