Scotland urged to use cruise ship to house asylum seekers

Home Secretary James Cleverly has urged the Scottish government to use a cruise ship and other large sites to accommodate more asylum seekers.

Mr Cleverly said that for dispersal and initial accommodation alone, Scotland houses eight asylum seekers for every 10,000 people.

This compares to nine in Wales and 16 in England.

The Scottish government said the country had "consistently played its part in supporting asylum dispersal".

And a spokesperson said Scotland was offering sanctuary to "more than double" the displaced Ukrainians per head of population than any other part of the UK.

Last summer the leader of the City of Edinburgh Council warned plans to use the MS Victoria in Leith to house asylum seekers could turn it into a "floating prison".

The cruise ship was used by the Scottish government to temporarily house Ukrainian refugees from July 2022 until July 2023.

In a letter to First Minister Humza Yousaf, Mr Cleverly has warned the practice of housing asylum seekers in hotels was both "unsustainable and costly".

He also said it was vital to "grow our asylum accommodation estate".

After highlighting the dispersal figures, he added: "I know that you and your colleagues take this issue seriously and there are many instances where you have signalled that the Scottish government is willing to house more people."

The letter goes on to quote pro-migration comments by SNP politicians including Westminster leader Stephen Flynn and Mr Yousaf.

The home secretary said he was now asking for their support in "rapidly increasing the asylum accommodation estate".

He added: "I believe that in order to achieve this, the use of large sites in Scotland, of which there are currently none, may need to be factored in.

"We should revisit options in Scotland, such as our plans last summer to use MS Victoria in Edinburgh, which unfortunately we could not obtain agreement on.

"This was despite the fact the Scottish government had used it to house Ukrainian refugees."

The Scottish government said the Home Office was responsible for the provision of asylum accommodation, including hotels.

A spokesperson said: "Ministers have been clear that the UK government needs to respect the important role of local authorities in asylum dispersal and should provide more financial support for them as it presses ahead with plans to close asylum hotels.

"Scotland has consistently played its part in supporting asylum dispersal since it was introduced over two decades ago.

"We are committed to supporting people to integrate into our communities and to providing the safety and security they need as they begin to rebuild their lives."

The spokesperson added that Scotland was offering sanctuary to more than 39,000 Ukrainians.

They also said all 32 local authorities participated in the the Ukrainian and Syrian resettlement programmes.

The spokesperson said: "Scotland stands ready to offer refuge and sanctuary for those who are displaced."

Dr Peter William Walsh, of the University of Oxford's Migration Observatory, said it was "helpful to take a broader view" of the statistics.

He told BBC Radio's Good Morning Scotland programme asylum seekers were those who reached the UK "under their own steam" and sometimes without authorisation.

As a result, this excludes Afghans and Ukrainians.

Dr Walsh said: "If we look overall at all the categories of displaced people that are hosted - that's Ukrainians, Afghans, and asylum seekers - what we find is quite interesting.

"England host four people per 1,000 of its resident population and Scotland six.

"So, per capita, Scotland hosts 50% more than England."