World News | Over 100,000 Brits Sign Up in a Day to House Ukrainian War Refugees
Get latest articles and stories on World at LatestLY. Over 100,000 people and organisations from across the UK have registered on the new Homes for Ukraine online platform offering rent-free accommodation to Ukrainians fleeing the war zone with Russia on Tuesday, just a day after it was launched by the British government.
London, Mar 15 (PTI) Over 100,000 people and organisations from across the UK have registered on the new Homes for Ukraine online platform offering rent-free accommodation to Ukrainians fleeing the war zone with Russia on Tuesday, just a day after it was launched by the British government.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson welcomed the “fantastic” response to the new scheme, which offers the British public 350-pound a month tax-free for housing Ukrainian refugees for a minimum of six months.
"Thanks to the generosity of the British public we've received over 100K expressions of interest from individuals and organisations so far in our Homes for Ukraine scheme,” the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities announced on Twitter on Tuesday.
The UK-based hosts will be matched up with Ukrainian individuals or families from Friday onwards, with the first refugees expected to be housed under the scheme by next week.
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“It's fantastic that over 100,000 people and organisations have recorded their interest in supporting Ukrainians fleeing the war through the Homes for Ukraine scheme,” said Johnson.
“Thank you to everyone across the country who has stepped up to offer their help so far,” he said.
The scheme was announced in the House of Commons on Monday by UK Housing and Communities Secretary Michael Gove, who said the new route draws on the “enormous goodwill and generosity of the British public”, and Britain's history of supporting the vulnerable in their hour of need.
“We took in refugees fleeing Hitler's Germany, those fleeing repression in Idi Amin's Uganda and of course those who fled the atrocities of the Balkan wars. More recently we have offered support to those fleeing persecution in Syria, Afghanistan and Hong Kong. And we're doing so again with Homes for Ukraine,” Gove said in Parliament.
Under the sponsorship scheme, individuals acting as sponsors will be able to nominate a named Ukrainian individual or family to stay with them rent-free in their home, or in a separate property.
Sponsors won't be required to know them in advance – they might find them through posts on social media or otherwise.
There will be no limit on the number of refugees who can come to the UK through this route, and they will be given three years leave to remain in the country, with the right to work and access public services.
Applications would be made online, with sponsors being vetted and refugees having to go through security checks.
“We want to minimise bureaucracy and make the process as straightforward as possible while also doing everything we can to ensure the safety of all involved.
“Sponsors will therefore be required to undergo necessary vetting checks and we are also streamlining processes to security assess the status of all Ukrainians who will be arriving in the United Kingdom,” noted Gove in his Commons statement.
In a later phase, organisations such as charities and churches will also be able to sponsor refugees, though there is no start date for this yet.
The scheme will allow Ukrainians with no family ties to the UK to be sponsored by individuals or organisations who can offer them a home.
Sponsors in the UK can be of any nationality, with any immigration status, provided they have at least six months' leave to remain within the UK.
Ukrainians arriving in the UK through this scheme will have access to the full range of Britain's public services – doctors, schools and local authority support.
The devolved governments of Scotland and Wales have written to the UK government to propose that they be allowed to act as so-called "super sponsors" to offer temporary accommodation to refugees and enable them to come to the UK even faster.
The Commons was told that the government is “working closely” with them to make sure that their offers of help are also mobilised.
More than 2.5 million people are estimated to have fled Ukraine to escape Russian attacks, in what the United Nations (UN) has called the fastest-growing refugee crisis since World War II.
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)