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Thousands of Ukrainian refugees in the UK have been placed at risk of homelessness and exploitation.The Guardian reports that while the UK government’s schemes provided a lifeline to families seeking sanctuary, some Ukrainians faced weaknesses in safeguarding procedures and a lack of sufficient training and ongoing support for hosts.
Since the start of the Homes for Ukraine scheme in 2022, over 9,000 out of about 200,000 families accommodated in the UK have been placed at risk of homelessness. This is often due to a breakdown of relationships with host families and difficulties accessing the private housing market.Although Ukrainians were found to be four times as likely as the general population to experience homelessness, there was a weekly average of 379 new arrivals from Ukraine between February and mid-June 2024.
Two ships used in Glasgow and Edinburgh to accommodate 2,465 people between July 2022 and July 2023 were criticized for being unsuitable due to a lack of cooking facilities and an inability to accommodate the Ukrainians’ guests.
The British Red Cross is calling for better safeguarding arrangements for accommodation scenes. The body also calls for the government to build on positive practices from the Ukraine accommodation schemes and apply lessons learned to future refugee resettlement schemes.
