MP demands apology after refugee relocation fears
Livingston MP Hannah Bardell is calling for an apology from the City of Edinburgh Council following the attempted relocation of 14 Ukrainian refugees from Livingston to Edinburgh.
On Friday (May 27) at 6.30pm at the Mercure Hotel in Livingston, the refugee resettlement team from the City of Edinburgh Council asked over a dozen refugees to move from Livingston to Aberdeen at 9.30pm.
It was reported the refugees quickly became distressed, after spending three weeks in West Lothian integrating with the community and learning English at West Lothian College.
After intervention from Ukrainian refugee support group, Scot-Host, the intervention was moved to Monday (May 30), although no attempt to resettle the refugees was made on that day.
Hannah Bardell has now written to Edinburgh City Council chief executive Andrew Kerr.
She wrote: “I write in reference to the treatment of Ukrainian refugees by members of your staff in my constituency on Friday the 27th of May at the Mercure hotel in Livingston.
“As you will have seen from press reports there has been a fair amount of distress caused largely down to very poor communication.
“I am advised from a number of people I have spoken to who were on site on Friday evening that the families were spoken to in a rude and aggressive manner and were given only a few hours’ notice to pack up to be moved to Aberdeen.
“I’m sure you are aware that those families who were staying at the Mercure had already begun to put down roots and make friends and contacts in the area, including getting language classes at West Lothian College.
“It seems quite illogical therefore that they would be treated in this way and moved so abruptly.
“It’s similarly puzzling that no liaison or communication took place with our colleagues on West Lothian Council – who I copy in.
“I know that our local council has helped welcome many families and I’m sure they will do all they can to find homes and support for these families now.
“It’s my understanding that our scheme to welcome Ukrainian people to Scotland was designed to have compassion, decency and a good level of organisation at its core.
“Nothing about Friday night’s events and the treatment of these folk, who I consider to be my constituents, expresses those values.”
At the end of her letter Hannah Bardell made four requests of Edinburgh’s City Council:
● A full and written apology is given to the Ukrainian constituents for the poor communication and distress caused;
● That a review into Friday evening’s events is undertaken with a view to learning lessons and ensuring no others arriving from Ukraine will be treated in this way;
● Andrew Kerr and colleagues at Edinburgh City Council work with colleagues in West Lothian to find these families places as locally as possible;
● Improved communication with the other families and Katerina Li, who is working with the families so that their transition to anywhere new can be as seamless as possible.
While the attempt to resettle the refugees didn’t happen initially on Friday or Monday as re-scheduled, a long-term solution has yet to be reached.
Edinburgh City Council were contacted for a response but had not replied at the time of going to press.