An official government-supported service has been launched to connect refugees with UK hosts under the Homes for Ukraine scheme.
Two weeks ago the platform was launched, with nearly 200,000 people in the UK registering their interest in hosting Ukrainian refugees through a government website. Those individuals will now be required to register on a different platform to be considered.
The service will be run by Reset Communities and Refugees, a leading charity sponsoring refugees from the UK community since 2018, and will receive funding from the government. The charity received an initial grant of US$390,000 (£300,000) to help design the connection process.
The service will match sponsors with refugees, and assess their eligibility and suitability for the scheme, as well as provide training and advice to sponsors and community groups.
Refugee Minister Lord Harrington, who was appointed by Boris Johnson earlier this month to facilitate the safe and rapid passage of vulnerable Ukrainian evacuees, commented: “I am delighted and grateful that Reset is working with us to bring more people safely to the UK.”
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Opposition party spokeswoman on living standards Lisa Nandy said: “It is a relief that the government has belatedly realized that a voluntary participation scheme in which desperate people have to pay is not enough. advertise on social networks.
“Valuable time has already been wasted. More needs to be done to help refugees with urgent needs, including removing unnecessary bureaucracy.”
The Homes for Ukraine programme, which was launched on March 18, allows Ukrainians without family ties to travel to the UK and live in homes offered by members of the public or charities and others. People who offer their homes are offered a monthly payment of US$460 (£350) and councils receive US$13,800 (£10,500) for each refugee for the first year.
The scheme has attracted some criticism after Living Standards Improvement Minister Michael Gove said he hoped individuals and community groups would be able to connect with refugees through social media.
Ukrainian refugees subsequently began “advertising” on social media in a bid to find hosts in the UK, and a number of unregulated Facebook pages were set up for this purpose, raising concerns that the program could expose those vulnerable to abuse.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson admitted this week that such a scheme could put people at risk of abuse and indicated that the NCA (National Crime Agency) may have to get involved to prevent this from happening.
Reset said the new service would facilitate a “rigorous” matching system, with volunteers and trained social workers, led by protection experts, assessing the intent, suitability and availability of sponsors while verifying that the accommodation they offer is appropriate. .
The charity created the website on March 15, but will now begin the formal process of connections. The website has so far registered more than 7,000 refugees, along with more than 8,000 UK households offering places for more than 20,000 refugees.
Sponsors will also be required to complete a mandatory online training program before the connection process begins.
The connections team will also carry out assessments of the refugees to understand their personal circumstances and whether they have particular ties to a place.
Once the connection has been made, the sponsors and the refugees will need to submit a visa application to the Home Office, and the local authorities will be responsible for the formal vetting process.
Kate Brown, chief executive of Reset, described the launch of the connections service as “an extraordinary moment for the refugee welcoming movement in the UK”.
“With 200,000 people signed up to offer their homes under the Homes for Ukraine scheme, and hundreds of thousands more offering support, we are in a position to help more refugees than ever before,” he added.
“We must ensure that fair and rigorous systems are in place to support refugees and sponsors as they join this program.”
The Independent is proud of its rich history of campaigning for the rights of the most vulnerable, and we first launched our Refugees Welcome campaign during the war in Syria in 2015. Now, as we renew our campaign and launch this petition in the wake of the current Ukrainian crisis , we call on the government to take more action and with greater speed to ensure that aid is provided. For more information about our Refugees Welcome campaign, Click here.
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