The charity sector is prepared, ready and waiting to welcome and support children from Ukraine however, the UK Government’s slow pace of issuing visas means that thousands of children are forced to wait weeks and months to enter the UK and receive support, according to new research.
New research published by The Childhood Trust documents the preparedness of the charity sector to receive and support children from Ukraine, and highlights the critical role played by these charities in meeting the needs of refugee children and young people. London is expecting to receive up to half the total number of refugees from Ukraine coming to the UK.
The research surveyed 21 children’s charities that currently support a total of 34,765 children, of which 2,127 are refugees. Of the organisations that offer support to displaced children, on average 18% of their beneficiaries are refugees. These charities care for children from 28 different states, reflecting the current global socio-political climate, with just over half of all supported children originating from Afghanistan, with a high proportion of children from Eritrea, Syria, Ethiopa, Somalia, Iran and Iraq also finding sanctuary
