SPECULUM VERUM
This week marked the first anniversary of the government launching the Homes for Ukraine scheme. Though it was implemented with the best of intentions, and supported by the incredible kindness of the British people, it has been characterised by incompetence, slowed by excessive bureaucracy and left many Ukrainians with fading hope rather than homes.
Thousands of Ukrainians quickly signed up to the scheme, believing they were heading to Europe’s crème de la crème. Instead, these refugees rapidly found themselves caught up in an endless cycle of Great British bureaucracy. With Russian missiles flying overhead, hundreds of Ukrainians were left waiting months for their UK visas to be processed. Thousands more struggled with excessive paperwork, confusing regulations, leading to unease and uncertainty over their future.
Like most Ukrainians who lived in the UK before the full-scale war began, I wanted to bring my family to Britain. But at a time when Ukrainians were at their most vulnerable and desperate in the first few weeks after the invasion, it was simply not an option. Only Ukrainians with existing visas could come here.
When, finally, the Homes for Ukraine scheme launched on March 18, a full 22 days after Vladimir Putin sent tanks across the border, thousands of Ukrainians had already fled to Poland, Romania, and other nearby states. Under the EU scheme, they could stay without any visas or permits. Stories appeared in the media of crowds in Germany waiting at stations to welcome Ukrainians into their homes. In Poland, Ukrainians without valid passports were allowed in.
In Britain, there was the will but not the way. When the scheme finally launched, 185,900 people applied to host Ukrainians. Refugees were attracted to the possibility of a three-year right to work in the UK, while staying with a government-approved sponsor – but it was also undeliverable.
On March 20, 2022, I found a kind-hearted English lady willing to host my aunt and cousin. To be eligible to host, she had to undergo a series of checks, including obtaining a Disclosure and Barring Service permit (needed to host an underage refugee). It is true that there have been instances of crime and abuse, but these have been few and far between. Ultimately, craven caution led to suitability checks that were at times ridiculous. Our sponsor had to wait weeks for her house to get “inspected”. Once the council finally arrived at her front door they had an issue with her elderly rescue dog. We then embarked upon the bizarre and tedious process of proving that my 14-year-old cousin, who was still in Kyiv at the time, was comfortable with dogs.
The UK government completely lost sight of the face that for Ukrainians fleeing from constant shelling, the only priority is safety. Dogs or how spacious a room might be are second, or 100th, order issues.
And while it is true that to complete the visa application for the Homes for Ukraine scheme refugees only had to provide a valid passport and proof of Ukrainian residence before the war, this was insufficient for some British bureaucrats. Many Ukrainians later had to provide divorce papers, birth certificates for their children and bank statements. Ukrainians without valid passports had to apply in person at a UK consulate in Poland. Why bother, if you can stay in Poland, France, Germany or almost any other European state without these hoops and delays?
I waited four weeks for my aunt’s application to be approved. It bears repeating that she was not coming here for a delightful sojourn, she was fleeing a war. But my surprise intensified when, upon speaking to other refugees, I learned they had been waiting six months for their visas. One informed me that she originally applied in July, was asked to provide more documents and then didn’t hear back for three months. She reapplied with no success and is still waiting. Her hopes are fading away.
The problems don’t stop there. Difficulty finding English language courses for refugees, and long waits for residence cards, which in turn delays employment, have further undermined Homes for Ukraine. Many families have been hosting Ukrainians for nearly a year, making personal sacrifices in the process. Some would like their homes back, and yet are told that the only way to hand over responsibility to the authorities is to make the refugees homeless. “Take them to a hotel”, or “leave them on the local council steps”, they are told.
I do not doubt the good intentions of the civil servants who crafted the Homes for Ukraine scheme. And make no mistake, more people have been protected by the UK Government on humanitarian grounds than at any other time since the Second World War. But one-year on, it seems the programme’s over-bureaucratisation has ultimately undermined the generosity of British people and left thousands of Ukrainians stranded.