THE Scottish Government’s controversial cruise ship for Ukrainian refugees has welcomed its first residents.

Ministers announced on Tuesday that a group of displaced people were now on board the MS Victoria. 

The ship has been chartered until January 2023 and the government says it “will provide people with fully staffed, safe and sustainable accommodation until they secure longer-term accommodation.”

However, concerns have been raised by third sector organisations and local councillors.

The Scottish Refugee Council said people should only be on board for a few weeks until given more permanent accommodation. 

The ship has 739 cabins, and can house up to 2,200 people, but the government have said they will cap numbers between 1,600-1,700.

People on board will be able to come and go as they please, though there will be a “security perimeter” around the ship with “proportionate security and identification checks for people moving on and off the ship.”

Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Housing and Local Government, Shona Robison said the government wanted people on board to be "as comfortable as possible during their stay."

She said there would be "a variety of services on-board for guests" including "restaurants, child play facilities with toys and books, shops, laundry, cleaning, Wi-Fi access and communal spaces."

Under the Ukrainian refugee super-sponsor scheme, which was launched in March, displaced Ukrainians applying for a UK visa could select the Scottish Government as a sponsor.

However, earlier this month the Government announced they would have to pause the scheme as they did not have enough suitable accommodation.

Ministers confirmed that the 23,000 people who had been granted a visa before the scheme was paused would still be eligible to come to Scotland. 

Ms Robison said: “The safety and welfare of displaced people from Ukraine, who are primarily women and children who may have experienced much stress and trauma, is of paramount importance to the Scottish Government.

“The success of the scheme can be seen in the fact that around 115 people arrived on average each day in the week to 19 July.

"With 9,000 displaced people with a Scottish sponsor already here, accommodating them all is always going to be a challenge.

“We’ve been working with partners such as Edinburgh City Council to make this ship a safe place for the displaced people and their families.

"A full risk assessment of the ship has been undertaken and all of the ship’s crew as a minimum have child and adult protection training.

“We do not want people spending more time in temporary accommodation, such as the ship, for any longer than is absolutely necessary. "

She added: “The Scottish Government is still undertaking work to increase the capacity of the temporary accommodation and maximise the number of displaced people placed with volunteer hosts who have completed the necessary safeguarding checks.

“I am proud of the support that Scotland is providing the people from Ukraine and I want to thank everyone who has been involved from those helping to prepare the ship for use, those providing support services and to the people opening up their homes to provide Ukrainians with a warm Scottish welcome.” 

Last week, Gary Christie, head of policy at the SRC, raised concerns about the impact of people being kept on the ship for a long time. 

He told the Daily Mail: “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.”

Over the weekend, Cammy Day, the leader of Edinburgh Council, warned that public services, including schools, could be overwhelmed by the sheer number of families being placed on the boat. 

He told the Sunday Mail: The Labour councillor said: “In terms of the support services for people who have come from a war zone, the requirement for jobs and schooling for young people needs urgent attention from a senior level in government because we don’t have a solution to that.”

According to the latest data. 9,037 Ukrainians have arrived in Scotland since the start of the war, with most, 6,163, here under the super sponsor scheme

Ministers have received 35,085 applications, and 23,811 visas have been issued.