Ukrainian refugees could face weeks waiting in an Ayr hotel due to a lack of available hosts willing to take them in.
Two bus loads of women and children fleeing their war-torn homeland are currently being held in the Mercure Hotel just 48 hours after South Ayrshire Council were first notified.
A support volunteer who is helping the effort to provide safe new temporary homes for hundreds of terrified war survivors says the process is a “bureaucratic nightmare”.
It is understood at least 60 refugees arrived to the Dalblair Road hotel on Friday, however council officials have refused to reveal details on the exact number.
Simon Tyas, 69, fears the latest wave of refugees into Ayrshire could be the latest to fall victim to a badly organised scheme after witnessing other groups moved from hotel to hotel.
And the member of the Scotland Ukraine Host Support Group is concerned over the dwindling numbers of hosts with people ‘put off’ taking in refugees due to the lack of support they receive.
Simon who has taken in a 50-year-old Ukrainian woman and her 16-year-old son, told Ayrshire Live: “The super sponsor scheme is so badly organised, its as if it has been drawn up on the back of a fag packet.
“For the Ukrainians, that means they’ve been moved from hotel to hotel, to hotel.
“Some people are in the hotel for weeks before they are just moved again.
“These women and children in Ayr are staying at the Mercure Hotel until they get a host.
“But there isn’t enough families who are sponsors to take them in.”
Simon says people have been put off due overwhelming levels of paper work and hoops to jump through.
Council chiefs are reportedly desperate to trace people who declared an interest in hosting put pulled out.
Simon hopes the current situation can urge potential hosts to reconsider taking in a Ukrainian family as he raised concerns over their welfare.
He said: “We are wanting people to re-consider being hosts.
“For those who have volunteered initially to be hosts we ask if they could please complete their enhanced check forms and your housing checks.
"These people need security, they need somewhere stable and to know they are not just going to be moved to another hotel.
“They need to know that they have a new home for at least six months and possibly three years."
A spokesperson for South Ayrshire Council said: "Through the Warm Scots Welcome programme, South Ayrshire Council is providing humanitarian support to Ukrainian families who have had to leave their homes.
"Some of these families have already been matched with host families in the area. Other families who have just arrived in Scotland are being accommodated in a hotel on a short term basis until suitable matches with host families are made."
Neil Gray, the Minister for Refugees from Ukraine, said: “Given that displaced people are fleeing war zones and other places of refuge, we cannot predict when they will arrive in Scotland.
"Therefore, we stand ready to provide support at that point through ensuring they are accommodated safely with access to meals, trauma support and translation services. Our absolute priority is ensuring the wellbeing and safety of those displaced from Ukraine arriving in Scotland.
“More than 11,000 visas have been issued under our Super Sponsor programme, and we will continue to do all that we can to welcome those fleeing the war in Ukraine for as long as that support is required.”
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