A Bristol woman who travelled to Poland to help Ukrainian refugees has criticised the British government's refugee settlement scheme for being too complicated and putting vulnerable people at risk. Ruth McMenamin, from Bishopston, travelled to eastern Europe after taking a three-month sabbatical from her job back home.
The 34-year-old has been welcoming refugees arriving at Warsaw central station, where volunteers are providing meals, toiletries, Polish sim cards and healthcare support for refugees fleeing the war in their country. But Ruth says that her attempts to help refugees navigate the British government's Homes for Ukraine scheme and secure visas has been difficult.
"Our UK policy for allowing people in is so difficult, it's so complicated. It's hard for someone to navigate if you do speak the language, never mind if you're a non-English speaker who's just fled a country," she told Bristol Live. Currently, refugees without a family in the UK have to find a sponsor to house them before they can become eligible to be resettled here, but Ruth said the processes are far too difficult.
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"These people aren't leaving with laptops, they're leaving with a mobile at best and we're giving them these huge difficult processes, whereas all the other countries in Europe are saying 'come in and we'll help to process you when you're here'. Whereas we're asking people to do all the work themselves.
"They have to match with a sponsor themselves and then try and fill in the form with their sponsor, which is just ridiculous. These people don't have data, and also they're trying to fill in a form with someone that doesn't speak their language and English people who don't speak Ukrainian."
She says that because of these lengthy processes, women and children are being left to sleep in potentially unsafe accommodation while they wait to be relocated. "The main point is it's actually putting women and children at risk because 90 per cent of the people that are travelling are women and children and there's massive safeguarding issues with just leaving them to sleep in temporary or emergency accommodation for seven days," said Ruth.
A private space has been cordoned off at Warsaw train station so women and children can rest safely, she said, but it has limited capacity so women are still being forced to sleep on the station floor while they wait. There have been reports of sexual assault and trafficking and posters have gone up in the station warning of the risks, she said.
She added that there is no sign of British officials at the station to help people with their applications, and said: "It's just not right, these people have travelled for four days most of time, they're absolutely knackered. They have mild illnesses because of sleeping out in the cold and they're run down, and now we're going ok, you've got out of a war zone but you're just going to have to wait for a bit before we settle you."
Government response
A government spokesperson said: “We are moving as quickly as possible to ensure that those fleeing horrific persecution in Ukraine can find safety in the UK, and our Homes for Ukraine scheme now allows those without family connections to come here.
"The Home Office has acted to streamline the visa application process so valid passport holders no longer have to attend in-person appointments before arriving, allowing us to welcome people faster.”
