A scheme for Ukrainians fleeing Russia’s invasion to shelter in Britain should be widened for victims of other wars, the Refugees Minister said today.
Lord Richard Harrington called for the Homes for Ukraine project to be widened so asylum seekers from other conflicts could find temporary sanctuary with kind-hearted UK families.
“My vision is for the system to be a permanent part of government so that when future refugee crises happen - and unfortunately they do, all the time - we have a machinery,” he told the Onward think tank.
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“We have got a lot of goodwill, we’ve got this machinery of government in place now - it’s not perfect but it’s improving day by day - and I hope it will become a permanent part of how this country deals with refugees.”
Tens of thousands of generous British households came forward to offer spare rooms to victims forced from their homeland by Vladimir Putin ’s troops.
Figures today showed 53,800 Ukrainian s had arrived under the family scheme and Homes for Ukraine sponsorship scheme as of Monday.
Lord Harrington said: “I am expecting far more.”
Some 107,400 visas have been granted under both schemes - meaning just over half of those granted visas have arrived.
Overall, there have been around 128,100 applications for visas.
The Homes for Ukraine scheme has faced widespread criticism over the length of time it has taken for refugees to receive visas and come to the UK.
Tory peer Lord Harrington admitted: “We have had some blockages in the system.”
He highlighted cases of would-be hosts flagging on the police national computer as one of the difficulties which has hampered the system.
“There has been a lot of pain and pressure on Ukrainian people who have applied to come over here through a complex visa scheme,” said the minister.
“They were waiting in the ether for far too long.”
The peer hoped 48-hour turnarounds for applications “will become the norm”.
More than one million Ukrainian refugees have already returned home, the country's ambassador to Britain revealed.
Vadym Prystaiko told the Onward event: "We see Ukrainians are frustrated with the growing discomfort, the growing struggle with different systems around the European Union, because they are missing their loved ones, they're missing their homes, they're missing their jobs."
The mayors of Kyiv and Kharkhiv had to tell people not to return to the cities because it was still unsafe, he said.
Mr Prystaiko added: "One of the things I'd like to address is how we can still be able to hold them here somewhere in Europe, the European Union, sometimes across the pond in Canada and the United States."
He expressed concern about refugees made homeless after falling out with their British hosts.
"It's a big, big deal,” he said.
Lord Harrington insisted there were “very few cases up to now.”
He added: “The more people we settle, there will be people who genuinely change their minds, perhaps they can’t cope when people come.
“It’s for us to setup a quick and easy system (to rehome them), given we’ve got plenty of other people applying to do that.”
