Ukraine war: UK households offered £350 a month for hosting refugees
Households in the UK will be offered £350 a month to open their homes to people fleeing the war in Ukraine.
Housing Secretary Michael Gove told the BBC tens of thousands of people could come to the UK under the scheme and he may offer a room to a refugee.
But the Refugee Council is concerned about the level of support for those traumatised by war.
Labour said there were unanswered questions, accusing the government of "dragging its feet" over the crisis.
Under the Homes for Ukraine scheme, people will be able to nominate a named individual or a family to stay with them rent-free, or in another property, for at least six months. A website to express an interest in being a sponsor will launch on Monday.
Mr Gove also told the BBC's Sunday Morning programme the government was looking at using the properties of Russian oligarchs sanctioned by the UK for "humanitarian purposes" but there was "quite a high legal bar" and this measure would lapse as sanctions ended.
Local authorities will also receive £10,000 in extra funding per refugee for support services - with more for children of school age, he told Sky News's Sophy Ridge on Sunday.
More than 2.5 million people have so far fled Ukraine because of Russia's invasion, in what the UN has called the fastest-growing refugee crisis since World War Two.
The government has faced criticism - including from its own MPs - over the speed and scale of its response.
Defending the government's response, Mr Gove told the BBC the number of Ukrainians fleeing the war who had been granted visas had now risen to 3,000.
At the moment, only those fleeing the conflict who have family connections in the UK are able to make an application via the Ukraine Family Scheme. Other visas are available but application centres in Ukraine are closed.
Under the new scheme sponsors in the UK will not be required to know the refugees in advance and there will be no limit on the number of people who can come to through this route. They will be given three years leave to remain, with the right to work and access public services.
Mr Gove told the BBC that he anticipated "tens of thousands" of Ukrainians might be taken in by UK families and he hoped people fleeing the war would be able to benefit from the scheme "within a week".
Applications would be made online, with both sponsors being vetted and refugees having to go through security checks. The sponsor would get a "thank you" payment of £350 a month.
He said: "It's the fastest way we can get people out of danger and into the United Kingdom."
Asked if he would take a Ukrainian refugee into his home, Mr Gove said: "Yes," and that he was "exploring what I can do".
"Without going into my personal circumstances, there are a couple of things I need to sort out - but yes", he added.
In a later phase of the scheme, organisations such as charities and churches will also be able to sponsor refugees, though there is no start date for this yet.
Image source, Getty ImagesBut the Refugee Council - a charity supporting refugees and asylum seekers in the UK - said it was concerned people from Ukraine were facing further "bureaucratic hurdles", and the government scheme fell short of what was needed.
Chief executive Enver Solomon said: "We are concerned that people from Ukraine are still not being recognised as refugees and being asked to apply for visas when they just need to be guaranteed protection."
Claiming formal refugee status, or permission to stay for humanitarian reasons through the asylum system, does not require a visa and allows an applicant and their dependants to stay in the UK for five years, with the right to work, study and apply for benefits.
He said the sponsorship scheme "will inevitably be restricted to those who are known to people in the UK and be a quite complex lengthy visa application process".
Mr Solomon said there were also concerns about the support available to sponsors.
"We are talking about very traumatised women and children whose experiences are unique, and the level of support needs to match that," he said.
"It's like asking people to be foster carers without any robust checks, training or having a social worker in place to support them."
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer told Sky News the government's visa schemes have been "too slow, too narrow, too mean", adding that the government had not consulted local councils about the support that needs to be put in place.
"Frankly the last few weeks have been an embarrassment to the United Kingdom in terms of refugees," he said.
Meanwhile, Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said Home Secretary Priti Patel should be sacked for the government's response to Ukrainian refugees.
"The incompetence, indifference and sheer inhumanity we have seen from the home secretary does not befit our United Kingdom, with its proud history of providing sanctuary to those in need," he told the party's spring conference in York.
The first ministers of Scotland and Wales have written to the UK government to propose that their nations go further with the new scheme, acting as "super sponsors" to offer temporary accommodation to refugees and enable them to come to the UK faster.
Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and her counterpart in Wales, Mark Drakeford, called for all visa requirements for Ukrainian nationals to be waived and urged the government to provide more clarity on how the scheme will work.
They said becoming "super sponsors" would allow the two nations to take refugees more quickly and give them access to safeguarding and services while a longer-term sponsor is found.
Ms Sturgeon also said she was worried the scheme will be "slow and cumbersome", will lack proper support and safeguarding and may not be sustainable for the length of time that people may need to stay in the UK.
The European Union is allowing Ukrainians three-year residency without a visa, but the UK says controls on entry are essential for security.
The Republic of Ireland's prime minister Micheal Martin told the BBC's Sunday Morning show that his country had taken in 5,500 Ukrainian refugees but had not carried out any security checks on entry, saying: "The humanitarian response trumps everything as far as we're concerned."
He said the UK had not raised any issues about security and the two countries' shared Common Travel Area with him.
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