The head of Positive Housing Action, Robina Quresi, said the government’s “Homes for Ukraine” plan had given people “false hopes” and amounted to a “trick”. He said he had led refugees to turn to social media in despair to seek sponsors and that those seeking help could take advantage of human traffickers. The government program opened on March 14 and was intended to allow individuals, charities, community groups and businesses to bring Ukrainians, including those without family ties to the UK, safe after the Russian invasion. Announcing it to the Commons, Michael Gove, Secretary of Housing and Communities, said there was no limit to the numbers coming in and ministers speculated that they expected the numbers to reach hundreds of thousands. Qureshi said: “The government has made a fuss about the Community sponsorship program Homes for Ukraine. Michael Gove told parliament on March 14 that there was no limit to the numbers that could come. However, none of the families we support has yet received a visa to travel under the Community-sponsored program and is still waiting. “ Those in Ukraine have already criticized the plan, saying the ministers’ allegations do not correspond to reality in the country. Qureshi said Positive Action in Housing helped 483 families, young and unaccompanied minors, in the last week alone in need of a sponsor to house them. He said the forms involved in the program were “helical and confusing – with no guidelines”. The charity runs the Room for Refugees, the UK’s longest-running refugee program, which began in 2002. Speaking to PA Media, he gave examples of people who put themselves at risk, where they had arranged accommodation and sponsors via social media. media. One included a Ukrainian mother who said she was sending her two teenage sons, one of whom is autistic, alone to travel to Europe. “Another woman told us she would leave Kharkov now if the UK government offered her a visa, but she is waiting at her house terrified,” Quresi said. “Refugees are turning to completely unsafe methods to get here, to meet people in groups on Facebook, on social media. “And this government is responsible for giving people false hopes and putting them more at risk.” He said human traffickers “thrive on refugee conflict and displacement whenever there are vulnerable populations on the move”, and visa restrictions should be lifted. “[It] “It resulted in obvious and dangerous breaches of the basic safeguard on an industrial scale – all instigated by a government department.” On Saturday, Police Secretary Keith Malthouse said the refugees had arrived in the UK through the Homes for Ukraine program, but that the number would not be released until next week. Separately, the government has a Family Plan of Ukraine for people wishing to join relatives or extend their stay in the UK.
