Thousands of Ukrainians still in temporary accommodation a year on from closure of super sponsor scheme

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton has today accused the Scottish Government of misleading Ukrainians who fled to Scotland as he revealed that more than 3,000 of them remain in temporary accommodation, a year on from the closure of the Scottish Government’s super sponsor scheme.

As of 20 June 2023, a total of 24,816 displaced people from Ukraine have arrived in the UK on a visa sponsored either by an individual Scottish sponsor or sponsored by the Scottish Government.

In July 2022 ministers claimed that the scheme was being “paused”, though Mr Cole-Hamilton warned at the time that such a pause was likely to be permanent. As a result no further Ukrainians have been able to obtain visas through the scheme for the past twelve months.

Despite these measures drastically reducing the number of arrivals, as of 5 June there were still 3,180 Ukrainians in welcome accommodation such as hotels and 765 onboard the MS Victoria cruise ship which is scheduled to depart in July.

Commenting on the figures, Mr Cole-Hamilton said:

“According to the latest figures more than one in ten of those who reached Scotland are still stuck in temporary accommodation. Thousands of people are still living out of suitcases and in hotels.

“Scottish ministers were desperate for positive headlines but the big promises they made were never matched with the resources that local authorities needed to vet volunteer hosts or house these people properly.

“We have even learned of people travelling back to Ukraine for medical appointments and dental care because the missile attacks are less daunting than the waits in Scotland’s NHS.

“I warned a year ago that the “paused” scheme would never reopen. Yet despite cutting off this route to safety and vastly reducing the number of Ukrainians able to travel to Scotland, ministers have still not got their act together to ensure everyone is housed and in receipt of basic services.

“I am concerned that unless the new minister for migration takes urgent action to help local authorities, many of these families and individuals will be trapped in limbo, unable to get on with their lives.”