As we watch the conflict in Ukraine unfold, many people are struggling with a sense of their own powerlessness. They have a fierce urge to do something to help. Recent polling shows that the public believes the UK government should be doing more to welcome Ukrainian refugees. It’s clear our country has been moved and wants to help those whose lives have been turned upside down by the conflict.
The government is now attempting to harness this wave of compassion and sympathy with its “homes for Ukraine” scheme. On the face of it, the plan is bold and ambitious. Any person who wants to take a Ukrainian refugee into their home will be able to do so as long as they can name them and they have a visa. The echoes of David Cameron’s “big society” are impossible to miss.
The scheme certainly has great potential to bring people face to face with the experience of refugees and support them. It’s already happening in Poland, Germany and other countries in Europe where Ukrainians don’t need visas to enter and are being granted permission to stay for up to three years with full rights and entitlements. The public welcoming refugees into their homes in this way and on this scale feels unprecedented.
However, in one area the UK’s approach remains far more restrictive than that of our neighbours: the insistence on visas. The government is relying on what is effectively a managed migration route to respond to a humanitarian crisis. This inevitably means paperwork and bureaucracy are being put before people’s urgent needs. Imagine a child who has been separated from their mother and father having to navigate a visa application to reach safety in the UK.
Despite the failure to waive the visa requirements, some Ukrainians will be able to get to the UK under the new scheme. Ensuring their safety and wellbeing when they arrive will be vital. Even with the best of intentions on all sides, there are potentially many things that could go wrong which need to be addressed in advance. Sponsors may not always be sensitive or reasonable in their expectations – we all know stories about flat shares, housemates or landlords that don’t work out. Living with someone you’ve only just met can be difficult for both sides, for all the joy it can also bring. There are also risks that refugees will end up in inappropriate or at worst exploitative conditions.
The government has said that those offering accommodation will be vetted, and it’s imperative appropriate checks are put in place. At the Refugee Council, we are particularly concerned that people coming here who have already had their lives shattered will not have access to housing benefits. If the relationship with the sponsor breaks down and they are unable to pay for private rented accommodation without welfare support there is a real risk they could end up homeless, which would be devastating. Allowing them to access housing benefit would also give them the opportunity to move into their own home if they choose to in the longer term. I understand there are some Ukrainians who have arrived already and who are keen to do this. If the government is refusing to facilitate this, there must be an alternative safety net so no Ukrainian ends up sleeping on the streets.
The women and children arriving from Ukraine will also have specific needs given the traumatic experiences they have been through. They should all be given an initial health check and be able to register with a GP. Children will need to get into schools or childcare as quickly as possible too. So the government needs to ensure that doctors, schools, mental health and counselling services have the resources to respond to these needs. There must be a standard public service offer to any Ukrainian regardless of where they are housed in the country, and access to a specialist support worker. The programme should certainly not be delivered on the cheap.
We should also not forget the needs of refugee communities already in this country. Many refugees from Afghanistan are still stuck in hotels without longer-term accommodation. There are also about 25,000 people in the asylum system having to cope in basic, sometimes very cramped, hotel rooms. While our attention is understandably on the plight of Ukrainians let’s not ignore the fact that the asylum system needs to be properly resourced so that claims can be resolved more quickly and people can be housed in accommodation that meets their needs. At present a Ukrainian arriving through the asylum system could have to wait months and months to be granted permission to stay.
It is also deeply ironic that at this time when the public so badly want to show their support to refugees from Ukraine, there is legislation before parliament that seeks to criminalise and repel any refugee who reaches our shores. The government’s nationality and borders bill is a cruel and misguided attack on refugee rights. Now more than ever is the time to strengthen our commitment to welcoming refugees from all parts of the world, not seeking to slam our door in their face.
The outpouring of public support is remarkable. The challenge now is to harness it in the best possible way, ensure all Ukrainians have a genuinely warm, safe and secure welcome, and use this moment to rethink our approach as a country to all refugees, to strengthen our commitment to refugee rights rather than weaken it.
Enver Solomon is chief executive of the Refugee Council
