Last week, the UN warned the UK Government about matching lone female Ukrainian refugees with single men in fears they could be exploited. Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Government launched the Homes for Ukraine scheme, which saw more than 150,000 people offer up rooms in their homes to those fleeing the invasion. The reaction of the UK and the Western world to the war has been swift in seeking to take in those fleeing war. But in the rush to help, key safeguarding steps have been overlooked.
The sponsorship scheme effectively allowed anyone with a room or home available for at least six months to offer it to a Ukrainian individual or a family. Though potential hosts are said be vetted, there appear to be massive gaps.
Councils around the country have sounded the alarm over a “concerning increase” in Ukrainian refugees arriving in the UK and becoming homeless due to relationship breakdowns with their sponsors or problems accessing accommodation.
Many of those seeking alternative accommodation are young women who have taken to social media sites to document their horrific experiences. Believing they would be safe here, some have arrived to be greeted by men with ulterior motives when they signed up to the scheme. I don’t doubt the generosity of British people, generally. But I am extraordinarily concerned that the eagerness to do more for people has meant that we have overlooked the needs of vulnerable refugees.
I, like many people of colour, have felt uncomfortable about the way we have spoken differently about refugees from Ukraine compared to many from other parts of the world. The commonality of being white has helped people move faster, but it has also meant that we have not seen the need and vulnerability of those coming to live here.
A news channel recently followed a single man picking up a young Ukrainian woman from the airport. The report tried to present this as a heart-warming moment. All I saw was the vacuum this poor girl was falling into. Had she come as a refugee from another country, she would have had a social worker or someone who could help her access the services she needed in her new home. But there she was at the mercy of some man she met on a “gaming site”.
I don’t mean to judge the man. But having worked in the violence against women and girls sector, alarm bells rang. Ukrainian women, girls and children are currently the only ones able to leave the war — men have had to remain — and many have gone missing because of international traffickers. Now it seems that those fleeing the conflict are not as safe they hoped.
We all have to do more. Question those who you feel aren’t fit to host refugees. Keep an eye out for young women and girls lost in our city. I know there is more good than evil in this world, but for those who seek to harm women and girls to win, it just takes good Londoners to look away
