Opening up our homes to Ukrainians

[Scaf]

We wouldn’t be able to accommodate a party that big I’m afraid.

 

[Scaf]

So apparently those of us that have registered an interest will be invited to give further information and formally register tomorrow.

 

[Wack61]

Outstanding, for you chaps to step up.
Unfortunately, here in the US, there is no program to allow them into the country. Now if they could fly into Mexico City, pay some coyote $20k each to be smuggled across the border, well then everything is fine! Welcome! here's some free stuff, and would you like to sign up for welfare, and free health care, while we send you wherever you want to go...@#%$&&(!!!

Sounds very much like the UK , if you come in illegally on a boat there's a welcome pack ready and if you make it more than ½ way the coastguard will give you a lift but if you're a Ukrainian woman fleeing with your kids you need to have a relative here to get a visa .

That may have changed recently , not sure.

 

[Le Unu]

You may remember that I posted a link to a Ukrainian blogger from you tube a while ago, well she has fled from Ukraine to Poland, she has now left Poland and is in Denmark, but has decided she wants to come to UK as she speaks English, and her daughter speaks better English than Ukrainian. As I understand it, her party consists of Olga, her 2 children, and 2 parents, I wondered if anyone on here has enough room to accommodate that many?

Technically yes, but I'm not sure I could cope with 8 of us in one house.

Perhaps if my neighbours would be interested (they've made no noises) we could in our street.

 

[Scaf]

Sounds very much like the UK , if you come in illegally on a boat there's a welcome pack ready and if you make it more than ½ way the coastguard will give you a lift but if you're a Ukrainian woman fleeing with your kids you need to have a relative here to get a visa .

That may have changed recently , not sure.

I don’t think it has changed and I agree its a disgrace, however if they ( the Ukrainian woman and children) arrived ilegally on a boat, I imagine they would would be greeted just like any other illegal - with open arms.

 

[Scaf]

We have now linked up to a young woman who was a school friend of a Ukrainian woman who lives locally to me.
She has been living in a basement in Mariupol for over a week after their apartment block was bombed with some family killed. Her father is insisting she leaves the country, he is staying to look after his wife.
She has made it to the Polish boarder apparently.
Her friend here is helping her with the application, we also will need to apply to be her sponsor and then let’s see if we are matched and she is sent to safety here in the UK.
The news coverage of what is happening is so upsetting, we still can’t quite believe this is happening in a modern world.

 

[philw696]

Totally agree with the news coverage there has been some atrocities committed for sure.
35 people murdered trying to get bread which many of us take for granted especially here where I see going to the bakery as a pleasure.
War what's it good for absolutely nothing

 

[MarkMas]

Outstanding, for you chaps to step up.
Unfortunately, here in the US, there is no program to allow them into the country. Now if they could fly into Mexico City, pay some coyote $20k each to be smuggled across the border, well then everything is fine! Welcome! here's some free stuff, and would you like to sign up for welfare, and free health care, while we send you wherever you want to go...@#%$&&(!!!

It is my understanding that anyone who was smuggled across the US-Mexico border as an illegal immigrant would NOT be eligible to be given welfare, free health care, relocation or any 'free stuff'. I thought that this is just a popular myth, designed to create division. Correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[MarkMas]

I don’t think it has changed and I agree its a disgrace, however if they ( the Ukrainian woman and children) arrived ilegally on a boat, I imagine they would would be greeted just like any other illegal - with open arms.

Pehaps some unpopular opinions here, but...

I think anyone about to drown in mid-channel SHOULD be immediately rescued, dried and fed, 'with open arms'. That is just a humanitarian necessity. And using that as an example of being 'soft' on immigration is sily and deceptive. The problem is finding a way to then send them straight back to France.

I don't really see why it is easy to deport to France a French yachtsman who has overstayed his visa, but impossible to deport to France an undocumented refugee/immigrant who has very evidently just left the French coast in a crappy dinghy.

Also, if Ukraine bordered the UK (like Poland) I would be saying "Open the border, and let in the refugees without restriction". And all credit to the neighbouring countries that have done this.

And if I ran a superstate like the EU, with basically no internal borders, I would be saying "Well, I suppose if the refugees are free to go anywhere in Poland, we might as well say they are also free to go anywhere in Schengenland, since we have no control anyway, and might as well sound all nice and humanitarian."

But if I ran an island nation, with borders, like the UK, I would be saying, "We are very happy to have our share of Ukrainian refugees, whether that is 10,000 or a million. But right now the refugees are reasonably safe and comfortable in Poland (and we have just sent the Polish government £100m to help pay for their welfare), so we think we should take a few weeks to make sure that the refugees who are likely to be most comfortable in the UK (due to connections, relatives or whatever) come here, not just the first random people who happen to have crossed the border. "

But I think HMG has messed this up by blustering about security checks aand bureaucratic bottlenecks, and spinning about how good we are on refugees, rather than being both vigourously welcoming and setting a meaningful threshold.

 

[philw696]

To be fair the UK Government have blustered their way through many issues over the last few years especially with Bojo at the helm.

 

[Firefox]

It is not illegal for anyone to leave France, this includes migrants in a boat, there is no French law stopping migrants leaving their shores. We are not in the EU so we cannot just send the migrants back to France

What welcome pack are you talking about wack61 ?

all those that volunteer to be a sponsor will need to be vetted, I have no idea how the government intends to do that.

 

[Gooner]

It is not illegal for anyone to leave France, this includes migrants in a boat, there is no French law stopping migrants leaving their shores. We are not in the EU so we cannot just send the migrants back to France

People trafficking is illegal though in the EU and here. You can read about the EU’s position and actions on people trafficking here: https://ec.europa.eu/anti-trafficking/eu-actions-explained_en

Of course the poor people in the boats are victims and should be helped and supported, not prosecuted. I personally can’t square that with French police standing watching them push their flimsy boats off beaches near Calais, nor ‘escorting’ them over to the UK side of the Channel.

Neither can I square that with the Priti Patel approach of metaphorically pushing them back into the sea.

Either way, allowing a crime to be committed because you can only see the victims getting hurt, not the criminals hurting them, is wrong in my view.

And FWIW I agree with MarkMas that we should have had a very simple minimal process, and started off with the principle that Ukrainians are welcome, then worked on the ground in Poland, Romania etc. to figure out what would be the most help we could be to people who needed it and wanted to come to the UK.

 

[Scaf]

Hi

It is not illegal for anyone to leave France, this includes migrants in a boat, there is no French law stopping migrants leaving their shores. We are not in the EU so we cannot just send the migrants back to France

What welcome pack are you talking about wack61 ?

all those that volunteer to be a sponsor will need to be vetted, I have no idea how the government intends to do that.

there was some mention of simple DBS check, but they can take forever and I can imagine people dropping out of the process.
Both my wife and I have current DBS checks but there does not appear to be a way to share the information.
Time will tell how well, or otherwise, this scheme will work.

 

[Scaf]

We have now linked up to a young woman who was a school friend of a Ukrainian woman who lives locally to me.
She has been living in a basement in Mariupol for over a week after their apartment block was bombed with some family killed. Her father is insisting she leaves the country, he is staying to look after his wife.
She has made it to the Polish boarder apparently.
Her friend here is helping her with the application, we also will need to apply to be her sponsor and then let’s see if we are matched and she is sent to safety here in the UK.
The news coverage of what is happening is so upsetting, we still can’t quite believe this is happening in a modern world.

well this connection failed to materialise as she has fled to Germany and been taken in by a family there. The process in Germany is pretty simple, the refugees get off the train and can leave the station with a willing host family. The process is not without its risks in terms of the potential for exploitation though.

 

[Wattie]

Interesting thread.
Not for me.
Taking unknowns into a family home is something I would never consider.
But then-I would never pick up a hitchhiker.
I hope it works out well for those that do and that it provides some comfort for those forced into such a dreadful situation.

 

[ChrisQP09]

I fear that many people could be consumed with the romanticism of giving refuge. The reality is that these people need short to long term stability (2-10 years) and support and I believe that people's hearts are weighing heavier than their heads.

I take my hat off to anyone who takes refugees in but I think it's a challenge that needs to be properly thought about. We did consider it ourselves but decided not to in the end as there are so many unknowns with a situation like this.

 

[ChrisQP09]

Controversial post. Which I think I know the answer to. But interested in others opinions.

Why are people willing to take in Ukrainian refugees. But not refugees from Afghanistan, Somalia, Syria etc etc etc?

Simply put, the war is on our door-step and that's too close for comfort. The truth is, if the war was waged on Georgia, Afghanistan etc the west wouldn't give a rat's b*mhole about it! It does not make the war legitimate but there's a home truth in my opinion and the sooner there is consistency to these affairs, the sooner less challenges represent themselves.

 

[Scaf]

I have picked up hitchhikers and I stop for broken down cars if it’s safe to do so, because I would want someone to do the same for my daughters / wife or me.

Its the same for the refugees - there but for the grace of god go I, if it was my family I would hope someone wtake them in.

I think it’s a calculated risk, taking a mother and child or elderly couple, these are not single men of fighting age.

We certainly appreciate that these are likely to be traumatised people needing not only the compassion we can can give but also professional help that may or may not be available.

But I fully respect that it’s not for everyone.

 

[Scaf]

Not sure about others who have registered to offer help but we have had no luck in progressing things.

We have been proactive in trying to find a match via local community groups / national and international websites and charities but all have ended without success.

The last two that we though might progress have ended up in Germany where it’s a much more simple system after getting bogged down in our visa application process.

We still want to help.

 

[RodTungsten]

Radio silence from HMG…..