The first refugees to be housed on the MS Victoria passenger ship in Leith have arrived and begun to board the ship.
The huge cruise ship docked in Leith is aiming to host 700 Ukrainian refugees as around 115 people arrived each day in the week up to July 19.
MS Victoria was commissioned by the Scottish Government until January 2023 and hosts more than 700 cabins. Prior to its current role hosting refugees, it sailed through the Baltic sea on leisure cruises.
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The Scottish Government has been working with Edinburgh City Council to make the ship appropriate for the large number of refugees who will be living on it. This includes a risk assessment of the vessel as well as providing child and adult protection training to the ship’s crew.
While the ship remains temporary accommodation, and the Government has said they want people to stay there for as little time as possible, they have said they want to make residents “as comfortable as possible during their stay”. To achieve this, the chip includes child play facilities, shops, laundry facilities, Wi-Fi access and communal spaces.
However, the shipside accommodation is still designed for short stays for refugees while more long-term accommodation is secured.
Speaking about the latest arrivals, Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Housing & Local Government Shona Robison said: “The safety and welfare of displaced people from Ukraine, who are primarily women and children who may have experienced much stress and trauma, is of paramount importance to the Scottish Government.
“The success of the scheme can be seen in the fact that around 115 people arrived on average each day in the week to 19 July. With 9,000 displaced people with a Scottish sponsor already here, accommodating them all is always going to be a challenge.
“We’ve been working with partners such as Edinburgh City Council to make this ship a safe place for the displaced people and their families. A full risk assessment of the ship has been undertaken and all of the ship’s crew as a minimum have child and adult protection training.
“We do not want people spending more time in temporary accommodation, such as the ship, for any longer than is absolutely necessary. But we want to make them as comfortable as possible during their stay and we have worked with partners to provide a variety of services on-board for guests in addition to the support services available. These will include restaurants, child play facilities with toys and books, shops, laundry, cleaning, Wi-Fi access and communal spaces.
“The Scottish Government is still undertaking work to increase the capacity of the temporary accommodation and maximise the number of displaced people placed with volunteer hosts who have completed the necessary safeguarding checks.
“I am proud of the support that Scotland is providing the people from Ukraine and I want to thank everyone who has been involved from those helping to prepare the ship for use, those providing support services and to the people opening up their homes to provide Ukrainians with a warm Scottish welcome.”
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