Edinburgh continues its support for Ukrainians as MS Victoria departs the city - Cammy Day

Council leader Cammy Day

As some of you may have noticed a familiar fixture in the Edinburgh landscape was conspicuously absent this morning.

For the last year, the MS Victoria has been moored at the Port of Leith in the north of the city and used to house displaced Ukrainians. This ship has been home to over 1500 Ukrainians in that time. As our guests have settled into their new lives the MS Victoria has allowed a real community to flourish in the gravest of circumstances.

On behalf of the council, I am incredibly proud of the solidarity and support through our services that we have provided to displaced Ukrainians for well over a year now.

I would also like to commend the exceptional and transformative partnership work that has taken place throughout this period. Council colleagues alongside partners at the Scottish Government,

Police Scotland, Landry & Kling Inc, Tallink, the crew of the MS Victoria, EVOC, Volunteer Edinburgh, AUGB and many others have worked tirelessly to welcome our new Ukrainian arrivals and integrate them into life in Edinburgh. This has been a monumental effort on all sides.

As we pass this significant milestone of the disembarkation and departure of the MS Victoria we can look back and learn from this unique experience as we look to the significant challenges ahead. Here in Edinburgh and indeed across Scotland, housing remains one of the key service areas where we are facing pressures. In the Edinburgh and South-East Scotland City Region, we are approximately 1600 properties short when it comes to finding accommodation for our current level of Ukrainian guests.

This is independent of housing for other refugees and asylum seekers and our own waiting lists for council housing.

While we welcome and are grateful for assistance such as the Ukraine Longer Term Resettlement Fund from the Scottish Government, we must be absolutely clear about the massive scale of the challenges we face in the medium to long-term when it comes to housing, educating, caring for and integrating our Ukrainian guests into life in Scotland. I hope we can all learn from the excellent partnership work I have already mentioned as we progress. I look forward to working closely on this with our partners in government and beyond.

I would like to reiterate our continued support for Ukrainians here in Edinburgh. To those residing here I want to be clear that this is your home, and we are here to help you. Ukrainians form a major part of the social and cultural fabric of the Capital.

The people of Edinburgh also have my immense thanks for opening their hearts and in many cases their homes to our Ukrainian guests. This represents the very best qualities of our residents and I know that these will continue to guide our great city.

Unfortunately, there appears to be no end in sight to Russia’s illegal war in Ukraine. We are continuing to see Ukrainian arrivals into Scotland and Edinburgh every single day which is why it is more important than ever that we continue our support whether that be by hosting, volunteering or through other means.