The government will ask the British public to open their homes to Ukrainians fleeing the Russian invasion amid intense criticism of its response to the refugee crisis.
Levelling up secretary, Michael Gove, is expected to set out on Monday details of the new “sponsored” route to allow Ukrainians without family links to the UK to come to the country.
The scheme was announced last week by Priti Patel, the home secretary, but details have been unclear amid reports of “different views” between Whitehall departments over the exact nature of the programme.
According to the Daily Telegraph, a hotline and webpage will be made available where individuals, charities, businesses and community groups will be able to offer rooms to those escaping the conflict.
It was added Ukrainians using this route to Britain would be granted permission to stay in the UK for an initial 12 months, with the ability to work, claim benefits and free healthcare.
Those offering housing would have to agree to take the refugees for a minimum period – potentially six months – and demonstrate that they meet appropriate standards, the report said.
According to Western officials, the number of people fleeing the Russian invasion – already around 2.5 million – could reach 4 million within days as the Kremlin continues to wage war.
While many have fled to neighbouring countries such as Poland, Hungary and Moldova, the Ukrainian ambassador to the UK has estimated tens of thousands of people escaping the conflict may come to Britain.
After days of criticism over the government’s handling of the situation, including the bureaucracy of the current visa routes and a lack of preparation despite weeks of warnings over a possible invasion, Boris Johnson insisted more details would be forthcoming next week.
He told Sky News: “On Monday, you’ll get from the levelling up secretary, you’ll get the programme that will allow people to come in, so (if) people want to welcome (refugees) into their own homes, they can do so.”
Speaking about the sponsorship scheme, the technology minister Chris Philp also added on Friday: “We’re going to be making announcements in the very near future about a scheme for UK local authorities, and indeed UK families, to welcome Ukrainian refugees, we’ve announced that principle and the details of how that scheme works will be laid out in the very near future.”
The move comes after Ms Patel was urged to do more to make it easier for those coming to the UK through the existing family route and yesterday announced in a U-turn that from Tuesday people will be able to apply online for a visa and will no longer have to go to a processing centre to give their biometrics.
But experts have warned there are still “major gaps” in the scheme and refugees would still have to go through a “chaotic and frustrating” online process.
It also not clear how many of the 2.5 million Ukrainians to have fled the conflict so far have access to a passport.
The British Red Cross said the quickest way of fixing the problem would be to remove the requirement for a visa — a move backed by the Ukrainian ambassador in London — while the Refugee Council said Ms Patel’s announcement “does not go anywhere near far enough”.
A No 10 spokesperson told reporters on Friday: “We will set out details of the humanitarian sponsorship scheme soon… that will allow those Brits who can and want to, help and support Ukrainians to do so.
“The Department for Levelling Up are working incredibly closely with the Home Office to make sure we can have up and running and soon as possible.
“We want to make sure we can facilitate those Brits who kindly want to host Ukrainians, as well as businesses and charities to be able to sponsor people to come to the UK. Both departments are working tirelessly to do that”.
The Independent has a proud history of campaigning for the rights of the most vulnerable, and we first ran 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 unfolding Ukrainian crisis, we are calling on the government to go further and faster to ensure help is delivered. To find out more about our Refugees Welcome campaign, click here. To sign the petition click here. If you would like to donate then please click here for our GoFundMe page.
