Several Ukrainian refugees staying in a West Lothian hotel were approached yesterday and 'asked' to relocate to Aberdeen, causing stress and upset.
The request was put to the families as there is limited space in hotel accommodation provided by the Scottish Government in the central belt.
A number of families who fled their war zone homes have been staying in the Mercure Hotel on Almondview in Livingston after flying into Edinburgh airport.
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The Ukrainian refugees have been staying in the hotel for months, attending West Lothian College and building relationships within the community.
They were reportedly distressed to be asked yesterday to relocate from the West Lothian town where they have spent time settling, to be moved half way across the country.
Following a worried phone call to a member of staff at the college a number of locals from the community came to the hotel to stop the move.
Allegedly 30 locals gathered at the hotel to contact local MSP's, Edinburgh Council and Scottish Government officials to assist the families and "stop" the move.
When speaking to Edinburgh Council, who are managing the welcome hub for the Ukrainian refugees, they told Edinburgh Live that the families were only asked to move and it wasn't enforced but that there could have been confusion due to the language barrier.
Community pillar Gary Grey attended the hotel where a number of families are staying after flying into Edinburgh airport, when he received a call alerting him to the situation.
The 50-year-old claimed that the refugees were "forcibly removed", "spoken to disgustingly" and "treated like cattle.
Gary rushed to the hotel and put phone calls into Edinburgh City Council and the Scottish Government.
Speaking to Edinburgh Live , he said: "Last night myself and others prevented the forced removal of 14 Ukrainian refugees against their wishes from Livingston to Aberdeen.
"These courageous individuals have been in the Mercure Hotel in Livingston for the last 3 weeks as per Super Sponsor they have requested to be in the Central Belt and have been making friends and have been attending college to learn English.
"This afternoon they were told at 3.30pm they were being moved against their wishes to a Hotel in Aberdeen at 6.30pm.
"Myself and others who have gotten to know these people over last few weeks were asked to come and support them as they were extremely stressed and upset and didn’t know what to do.
"It took a lot of courage from these brave people to contact us, as we have found most Ukrainians are extremely scared of authority and do not wish to seem ungrateful at the support Scotland is offering them.
"These people were being treated like cattle to be moved about from field to field. There is absolutely no problem with moving people to locations if that is where they wish to go to.
But these families did not wish to go.
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A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “We are working in partnership with 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 identifying 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.”
