Ukrainians are already being forced into homelessness as relationships with UK sponsors breakdown and some female refugees seek new homes after being targeted for sex by their British hosts
- Some female refugees are seeking alternative hosts over inappropriate remarks
- Reports suggest one young woman was subjected to advances from a male host
- In total, 1,000 refugees have arrived in UK under the Homes for Ukraine scheme
Ukrainians arriving under the Homes for Ukraine scheme are already being forced into homelessness and a number of female refugees have faced ‘sexual advances’ by their British hosts, councils have claimed.
Families who have arrived under the new visa scheme say they are still struggling to access cash while they wait for benefits and are having to be put up in hotels.
Dozens of matches under the separate Homes for Ukraine scheme are understood to have broken down, with local authorities having to put families in emergency accommodation while they wait to find a new sponsor.
Around 12,000 people had arrived in the UK under Ukraine visa schemes as of Tuesday, according to Home Office figures.
The chairman of the Local Government Association (LGA), councillor James Jamieson, said councils need to be told in advance who is arriving under the family scheme and given funding so they can support them.
He said: ‘Councils are already seeing a concerning increase in homelessness presentations from Ukraine arrivals – including those who have arrived via the family scheme and where the families’ accommodation is not suitable or the relationship has broken down shortly after arrival – and lone children arriving in the UK needing support.’
It comes as Home Secretary Priti Patel apologised ‘with frustration’ over the amount of time it was taking for Ukrainians to arrive in the UK under current visa schemes.
Ms Patel denied visa requirements and checks are slowing the process and causing delays, insisting the UK will ‘absolutely see changes in numbers’ as work continues.
Some 10,800 people had arrived under the Ukraine family scheme but only 1,200 had made it to the UK as part of the Homes for Ukraine sponsorship scheme, provisional data published on the department’s website shows.
As of Thursday, about 79,800 applications had been submitted to the schemes and 40,900 visas had been granted.
Dozens of matches under the separate Homes for Ukraine scheme are understood to have broken down, with local authorities having to put families in emergency accommodation while they wait to find a new sponsor. Pictured: Ukrainian refugees arrive in Manchester on March 29
Refugees Yaroslav Kryvoshyia (right) and Irina Kryvoviaz (second right) with her son Sasha and their host Sarah Allen-Stevens (left) as they settle into their new home in North Moreton, Oxfordshire
Female refugees who have arrived in the UK under the Homes for Ukraine scheme have been seeking alternative homes after male hosts made sexual advances, reports suggest. Pictured: Refugees, mostly women and children, wait for transport at border crossing in Medyka, Poland
Around 12,000 people had arrived in the UK under Ukraine visa schemes as of Tuesday, according to Home Office figures. [File image]
It comes as Home Secretary Priti Patel apologised ‘with frustration’ over the amount of time it was taking for Ukrainians to arrive in the UK under current visa schemes
Last month, the Government announced the launch of the Homes for Ukraine scheme which will pay families £350-a-month to take in those fleeing Russian brutality for at least six months.
Within hours of the scheme launching, the website for registering interest had crashed and subsequently more than 200,000 people signed up to the programme.
But the Times reports that there have been what Government officials called ‘matching failures’ by refugees who have arrived on a visa sponsored by a UK household.
In a survey published last week, the LGA said 57 councils have been approached by a total of 144 Ukrainian households who have become homeless after arriving under both schemes.
The British Red Cross said it has had to refer people to homelessness charities, local authorities and housing associations due to problems getting funds or accommodation. In some cases it has had to fund short-term accommodation itself as an emergency measure.
In one example, a mother and her five children were put up in a hotel by a council after arriving under the family visa scheme.
They are struggling to set up a bank account without proof of address, and without a bank account they cannot complete an application for universal credit.
They were advised to go to their local Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) office in person, but this is at least three miles away and would take nearly an hour to reach by foot as they do not have money for public transport.
Alex Fraser, British Red Cross director of refugee support and restoring family links, said: ‘We’re increasingly concerned about the access to information about support people are receiving when they arrive.
‘We’re seeing an increasing number of calls to our support line from Ukrainians struggling to get cash and housing, and British families desperate to help but being prevented by the system.’
Another of the reasons given was that male hosts were allegedly making sexual advances towards female refugees.
In a Facebook group that helps match refugees up with sponsors, one woman has shared a plea to help her find another home for a female refugee.
She wrote: ‘I have had a young lady message me about a host that she was going to but is now scared as he has been asking her personal questions so she wants to cancel her application but can’t find the link to do it.
‘She said she is scared as she now wants to find another sponsor.
‘She is young and this guy said he was a single man with a daughter but was asking her if she had a boyfriend and if she was ready for a relationship. This is worrying.’
A source for the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities – which is in charge of the scheme – told the Times: ‘We’ve seen several cases where the host and refugee match has failed already.
‘They’ve made the journey here but the relationship has fallen apart.’
The Refugee Council accused the Government of ‘choosing control over compassion’ after figures were published showing that 12,000 Ukrainian refugees have arrived in the UK under visa schemes.
Chief executive Enver Solomon said Britons who are prepared to open up their homes have been left feeling ‘angry and frustrated that their gesture of support has been lost into a web of bureaucracy and chaos’.
He said the Government must waive visas as an immediate short-term measure and then introduce a ‘simplified emergency humanitarian visa process’.
People who fled the war in Ukraine rest inside an indoor sports stadium being used as a refugee center, in the village of Medyka, a border crossing between Poland and Ukraine
He added: ‘These numbers confirm we have a Government, yet again, choosing control over compassion when it comes to granting refugees protection and one that appears to be totally out of step, not only with the British public, but the rest of Europe who have opened their doors to welcome Ukrainian families in desperate need.
‘It’s clear that the visa schemes which were supposedly designed to ensure the safety of Ukrainians fleeing war and bloodshed are unfit for purpose.’
It is estimated that at least 40 of the 1,000 refugee matches already completed had failed since the scheme was launched.
Before the scheme was launched, only Ukrainians with family members already settled in the UK could come.
But under the new proposal, sponsors can provide a route for Ukrainians without family ties to come to the UK.
The Government has come under fire over the backlog of visa applications which are being processed slowly.
Home Secretary Priti Patel told the BBC it is ‘always easy to blame someone else’ but security checks ‘are not the problem’ when it comes to the time it is taking for Ukrainian refugees to reach the UK.
She was told there is ‘huge frustration’ among the public who are experiencing three-four week delays and are blaming red tape for being unable to put people up.
She said: ‘They’re not seeing delays, we are processing, and as I’ve said as well I’m streamlining processes, I streamlined the family scheme in less than a week, and we simplified that and we changed the way certain checks are done.
‘Also I’m working to automate where we can.’
Asked why Britain is playing ‘catch-up’ with other countries, she said comparisons with EU members are not ‘like for like’.
‘We are an independent third country and we want to give people the status and security of coming to our country along with the warm welcome’, she said.
‘Yes, we want to welcome people, we are welcoming people – over 40,000 visas being granted, over 10,000 people over a space of five weeks coming to the United Kingdom.
‘We have to ensure that they are protected and safeguarded in the United Kingdom as well.’
Earlier this week, it was reported that residents in North Moreton, Oxfordshire, had got together and submitted 39 applications to welcome refugees to their village but so far only three have been approved.
Villager Polly Vacher, who is co-ordinating the initiative, said: ‘I feel huge frustration that we haven’t been able to welcome the refugees to our village yet.
‘We feel completely helpless, because the visa applications simply seem to be stuck. It’s shameful.’
‘Fifteen host families are still waiting and are part of this debacle. It is a travesty.
The Daily Mail recently revealed how kind residents of picture-postcard North Moreton (above) – with a population of around 350 – are throwing open their arms and doors to help
Refugees from Ukraine wait in the ticket hall of the railway station in Przemysl, Poland, which has become a hub for refugees from Ukraine fleeing their country due to Russia’s aggression
‘The system is simply shambolic,’ added Mrs Vacher, who became an amateur pilot aged 50, and has flown solo around the world twice in a single engine aircraft.
The minister in charge of the refugee scheme said on a radio phone-in that he found it ‘hard to disagree’ with a caller who described the initiative as ‘ridiculous, a shambles and a disgrace’.
More than 200,000 British families have volunteered to take in refugees for a minimum of six months under the scheme.
The visa programme has been slammed for a 50-page application form which can take even native English-speakers hours to complete.
Unlike EU countries, ministers here insist refugees must complete security and vetting checks so that criminals and potential spies can be identified.
A Government spokesman said: ‘We have streamlined the process so valid passport holders do not have to attend in-person appointments before arriving in the UK, simplified our forms and boosted caseworker numbers, while ensuring vital security checks are carried out.’
It comes as Poland’s deputy foreign minister said the country needs more financial support from the UK for the 2.5 million Ukrainian refugees it has taken in.
Marcin Przydacz told the Today programme on BBC Radio 4: ‘They could offer a bit more financial support, you know, those 2.5 million people need accommodation. Half of them basically are kids, which we are successfully integrating to the Polish schooling system.
‘But it also brings some costs. Suddenly, in a couple of weeks, we are 2.5 million bigger.
‘So any kind of financial assistance would be of equal importance, and very much welcome.’
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