The Rt Rev Rosemary Frew has spoken out after watching a BBC Scotland Disclosure documentary examining protests outside the Cladhan Hotel, a former hotel where asylum seekers are being housed in Falkirk.

The programme showed the ongoing demonstrations, as well as verbal abuse directed at residents and damage to the building, including smashed windows.

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Frew told the Scotsman that the footage was “quite distressing to watch and to listen to”, describing the behaviour on display as rooted in “absolute hatred” towards people who had fled their home countries.

“It was quite distressing to watch and to listen to, and just to hear the hatred, the absolute hatred that people have for a group of people who have left their countries for whatever reason – but many of the reasons because where they were was unsafe,” she said.

Frew added: “And I just commented to my husband, what must they be thinking as they sit in that hotel in Falkirk and outside there is … just the hatred, the hate that was being expressed towards them.

“The threats that were being made towards them, and also between the two sides we now have who are gathered in demonstration. It just made me so ashamed of Scotland.”

Falkirk has become a focal point for repeated anti-immigration protests, part of a wider pattern also seen in other Scottish cities and across the UK. The demonstrations have drawn condemnation from politicians and anti-racist campaigners.

Frew contrasted the hostility shown outside the hotel with the values she believes Scotland should represent, pointing to a recent ceremony marking 60 years of the Saltire Memorial in Athelstaneford.

“On Sunday [November 30], I was at Athelstaneford for the Saltire service and the rededicated of the Saltire there, and all the words that were being used – Scotland, a place of welcome, and a home for those born here, for those who have made it their home, and who have come seeking a home.

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“And that’s what we were affirming as we hoisted this brand new flag and they launched a new appeal to recognise this place where the Scottish flag had its origins.

“All of these words were just so at odds with what you are hearing outside hotels in Falkirk. And the Scotland that I love and the Scotland that I want to live in is that welcoming Scotland, and not that hate-filled Scotland.”

First Minister John Swinney has previously described the protests outside asylum hotels as racist, saying those involved were “spreading racist hate” and that such behaviour must be confronted.

Falkirk councillor Laura Murtagh has called for exclusion zones to be established around the hotels to protect residents from intimidation.