Refugees fleeing from war-torn Ukraine to Scotland have been ‘betrayed' by the SNP Government, it has been claimed.
Despite Nicola Sturgeon proclaiming in March that the nation ‘stood ready' to take in thousands of Ukrainians, many have been sent to cramped and potentially dangerous accommodation.
Controversial plans to house hundreds of refugees on a cruise ship were criticised as a major health risk, while further safety concerns were raised about sending others to live in tower blocks with potentially dangerous cladding.
Others have been moved between hotels so many times they fear they may be left homeless.
The debacle came after the SNP Government was forced into pausing its ‘super sponsor' scheme because it is struggling to provide suitable housing for Ukrainians relocating to Scotland.
Despite Nicola Sturgeon proclaiming in March that the nation ‘stood ready' to take in thousands of Ukrainians, many have been sent to cramped and potentially dangerous accommodation
It has led to claims that the Scottish Government rushed into announcing plans it was unable to deliver and that it has promised to take in more refugees than it can handle.
Scottish Tory housing spokesman Miles Briggs said: ‘SNP ministers have typically overpromised and underdelivered.
The pausing of the super sponsor scheme, that they spent so much time talking up, represents a betrayal of those Ukrainian refugees.'
Last night, the Scottish Refugee Council (SRC) raised serious concerns about a controversial plan to move people to a 739-room cruise ferry docked in Edinburgh, saying families could struggle to secure jobs or places in school while they are based there.
The vessel is being provided as part of a contract that is expected to cost more than £1million a month.
Gary Christie, head of policy at the SRC, said: ‘If families are arriving, we would want the kids to be in schools quite quickly, and in terms of resolving employment and whether this can be used as an address when people are applying for jobs.
‘If people are there for relatively short periods of time then that's fine.
But if people are there any longer there are issues about young people's schooling and status for employment, and I think that is our concern.'
He added: ‘We totally understand the pressures on accommodation, and this is shared across Europe in terms of Ukrainians arriving and governments struggling to find accommodation. It is a humanitarian response, so we would see it as a few weeks maximum that people should be staying there.
It shouldn't be a long-term option.'
Health experts have also raised concerns that there could be a Covid outbreak on the MS Victoria, while fears were also raised about the use of tower blocks with potentially dangerous cladding.
Hugh Pennington, emeritus professor of bacteriology at Aberdeen University, told the Scottish Sun on Sunday that using the ship is a ‘very risky move' because of the threat of a ‘big outbreak' of Covid-19.
Last week, North Lanarkshire Council announced plans to bring 200 empty homes back into use with £5million of Scottish Government funding to reinstate two blocks of flats at Wishaw and Coatbridge.
But the Sunday Post yesterday revealed the buildings feature high-pressure laminate cladding, which has come under scrutiny since the Grenfell Tower fire in London.
Yevgen Chub, of the Associations of Ukrainians in Great Britain, said: ‘We can't have people from Ukraine escaping one threatening situation and going into another.
We need to be sure that these flats are completely safe'.
In March, Nicola Sturgeon criticised the UK Government's response, saying bureaucracy and red tape were slowing the process down ‘when what is needed is humanity and urgent refuge for as many as possible.
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