A charity supporting Ukrainian refugees says the UK Government has failed to grant a single visa to any of the people it is trying to help.
Almost two weeks after the Government launched a scheme to help bring individuals, charities, community groups and businesses to safety, Positive Action in Housing claims many have been left seeking help from strangers on social media.
The Homes for Ukraine scheme opened on March 14 but is now being blasted by refugee groups, with the forms involved branded ‘tortuous and confusing’.
There are also claims that people stranded in besieged Kharkiv would leave now if the Government had granted them permission to come to the UK.
Positive Action in Housing warned of the danger posed by potential human traffickers adding that in the past week alone it has been helping 483 Ukrainian families, young people and unaccompanied minors looking for a sponsor who will shelter them.
None have been given visas, it claims.
Robina Qureshi, director of the charity – which runs Room for Refugees, the UK’s longest-running refugee hosting programme which has been in place since 2002 – said: ‘The Government made a fanfare of its Homes for Ukraine Community sponsorship programme. Michael Gove told Parliament on March 14 that there was no limit on the numbers coming in.
‘Yet, none of the families we are supporting have yet got a visa to travel under the Community Sponsorship scheme and are still waiting.’
Ms Qureshi said they had seen examples of people putting themselves at further risk, such is their desperation as they endure long waits to find out if they can get a visa.
She said: ‘Unaccompanied minors, young women, women with young children, have told us they met someone on social media who offered to be a sponsor under Homes for Ukraine.
‘A Ukrainian mother said she was sending her teenage sons, one of whom is autistic, alone to make the journey to the UK from Ukraine.
‘Another woman told us that she would leave Kharkiv now if the UK government offered a visa, but she is waiting in her home terrified.
Britain's oldest 'postman', 98, delivers letters to residents in his care home
‘Refugees are turning to wholly unsafe methods of getting here, meeting people in Facebook groups, on social media. And this Government is responsible for giving people false hope and putting them further in the way of danger.’
She warned that human traffickers ‘thrive on refugee conflicts and displacements anytime there are vulnerable populations on the move’, labelling the scheme a ‘gimmick’ which she said ‘has resulted in obvious and dangerous breaches of basic safeguarding on an industrial scale – all instigated by one Government Department’.
Ms Qureshi repeated the charity’s call for visa restrictions to be waived ‘so that war refugees have the confidence to travel, and allow NGOs and community organisations to assess people and place them in safe shelter’.
On Saturday, Government minister Kit Maltouse claimed refugees have arrived in the UK through the Homes For Ukraine scheme, but that the number will not be published until ‘next week’.
The Home Office told Metro.co.uk it could not comment on the number and the Levelling Up Department did not immediately respond to a request for clarification.
Separately, the Government has a Ukraine Family Scheme which is for people seeking to join relatives or extend their stay in the UK.
A Government spokesperson said: ‘No visa is issued by the Home Office until checks have been completed on the Ukrainian applicant as well as on every adult in a sponsor’s household.
‘Local authorities will then run DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) checks on sponsors, with enhanced DBS with barred list checks for those housing families with children or vulnerable adults.’
They continued: ‘Under the Homes for Ukraine scheme, Ukrainians will be guaranteed free access to NHS healthcare, including mental health care.
‘They will also be able to work and receive benefits. The Government has also ensured that local authorities have appropriate levels of funding to support new arrivals.’
Russia-Ukraine war: Everything you need to know
Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine began on February 24, the country has suffered widespread damages and loss of life amid a major bombing campaign.
Millions of people have fled the country, with thousands of British people opening up their homes to Ukrainian refugees.
Russian President Vladimir Putin hasn't shown any signs of calling off the attack anytime soon, with his spokesperson claiming that he is refusing to rule out using nuclear weapons.
- Cyberwarfare is the battleground of the 21st century and we're all involved
- Putin sets the stage for Ukraine climbdown amid brutal losses on Russian side
- Mariupol theatre death toll rises to 300 after Russian airstrike
- ‘Future Olympic champion gymnast’ killed in Russian bomb attack on her home
- Huge Russian warship destroyed while delivering weapons in Mariupol
- NATO 'ready to respond if Russia uses weapons of mass destruction in Ukraine'
- What is NATO and which countries are members?
- How to get tickets for Concert for Ukraine
- Where to buy a Ukraine ribbon pin
- What does Z mean for Russia?
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.
MORE : Italian town calling for Putin statue to be demolished amid Ukraine war
from News – Metro https://ift.tt/aQ3d0mR
0 Comments