Meeting of the Parliament 23 February 2023
As other members have done, I express a warm welcome to the Ukrainian consul, who joins us in Parliament.
Today, the Parliament has come together to stand in solidarity with Ukraine. I echo my colleagues’ dismay over the innocent lives that have been lost in the unjustified war, as well as their appreciation of the courage and resolve that the people of Ukraine have shown. Over the past year of this illegal war, we have witnessed barbaric aggression, and Putin has made it clear in the past few days that there is no end on the horizon.
We must remain steadfast in our support for Ukraine. As my colleagues have highlighted, we must continue to provide defensive military support to Ukraine and continue to increase economic and diplomatic pressure. As Sarah Boyack noted, sanctions are still crucial to putting pressure on the Russian regime.
We must make it clear that Scotland will continue to support diplomatic means to end the war. Putin must feel the cost of the continued aggression against a sovereign nation. Still, we must remember the goal of de-escalation. The Russian regime’s aggression began this war; we must support any diplomatic means possible to end it.
Solidarity means commitment to Ukraine. We must remember that our efforts are first and foremost for the innocent people affected by Putin’s war in Ukraine. Continued support must be given to those who have been, and continue to be, displaced by the war. As Sarah Boyack rightly said, we must take measures to ensure the safety of all refugees in Scotland and ensure that they are protected against forces, such as people traffickers, that might abuse the crisis.
Ukrainian people must have a safe home here in Scotland. I express my thanks to the minister, Neil Gray, for keeping us all updated on the Scottish Government’s efforts to house displaced Ukrainians. I note the minister’s comments about local authorities working with the Scottish Government on plans for the long-term housing and resettlement of Ukrainian refugees.
The local authority in Edinburgh has previously approached me on the topic of support from the Scottish Government. I hope that the Scottish Government can continue to work in partnership with local authorities to show solidarity with Ukraine by housing as many Ukrainian people as possible.
As my colleague Donald Cameron mentioned, we need to be prepared with a long-term strategy to house Ukrainian refugees and support their integration into our society. Both the MS Ambition in Glasgow and the MS Victoria here in Edinburgh are set to disembark in the coming months. They are currently home to around 2,200 Ukrainian refugees. Neither Glasgow nor Edinburgh has the spare housing capacity to accommodate them, so there are fears that they will have to be housed elsewhere.
Many of those individuals have spent almost a year living on those ships. They have built relationships, communities and lives in Glasgow and Edinburgh. It is possible that with the Ukraine longer-term resettlement fund, those individuals might now be further displaced to an unknown place in Scotland. A long-term housing strategy for those individuals is essential—one that provides support to protect the mental health of Ukrainian refugees who have been through trauma that most of us can only imagine.
They need to be able to put down roots, their children need to go to school, and they should be able to build a life here and call Scotland their home for as long as they need to. We would welcome a long-term strategy for the thousands of refugees who are likely to remain in Scotland for at least the next year, and we should be prepared to house them for much longer if Putin’s war continues.
That is how we can continue to show solidarity and support to Ukraine, one year on from the beginning of the war.