• Sign this petition for the right to permanent settlement (more below): petition.parliament.uk/petitions/700776

In March 2022, one month after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the UK government set up the Homes for Ukraine scheme, a visa for those fleeing the conflict and seeking refuge in the UK.

The scheme relied on generous members of the public opening up their homes to Ukrainian people, mostly women and children, for a minimum of six months. Unlike other nationalities seeking asylum, Ukrainians would have the right to work, to study and to claim benefits. Alongside the scheme, the Ukrainian Family visa meant Ukrainian nationals could bring family members over to live in the UK.

There was no doubt that the scheme was flawed. Host/guest relationships broke down and there were gaps in safeguarding. But overall, the Homes for Ukraine visa gave 200,000 Ukrainians a safe place to live, work and rebuild their lives in the horror of war. Of these, around a third are children. In that sense it showed a vastly better approach to refugees than the one UK governments have pursued generally.

What it failed to do, however, was offer a long-term solution to displacement. The Conservative government’s scheme never offered refugee status to Ukrainians. 

That’s why Ukraine Solidarity Campaign is launching campaigning to mobilise the labour movement and broader opinion behind the simple demand for permanent welcome for Ukrainian refugees.

As a first step, we are promoting a petition on the Parliament website that has already gained over 30,000 signatures. You can view and sign at petition.parliament.uk/petitions/700776

To underscore what we hope is already clear about our stance, we are not advocating this because we think Ukrainians deserve more rights than other refugees. We advocate levelling up, equality and improvement of rights for all refugees, which is why we continue to support and work with other / broader campaigns for refugee and migrants’ rights.

When it was first launched, the Homes for Ukraine scheme offered applicants a three-year visa. This was later cut to an 18-month visa. But with the war continuing to rage, the government realised it would need to extend permission for Ukrainians to stay, launching an 18-month extension to those already living in the UK.

At the same time, the previous Conservative government chipped away at the safe and legal routes available to Ukrainians. The family visa scheme closed, meaning Ukrainians can no longer apply via this route (though this was later reversed under Labour). The Homes for Ukraine visa was not only cut from three years to 18 months, it was amended so that all hosts now have to be British citizens. This excludes Ukrainians who have arrived in the UK since February 2022 from being hosts. Families have been forced apart as a result of the ban. 

Further, while there is no doubting the generosity of hosts who opened up their homes to welcome Ukrainians, the numbers of volunteers offering a room has inevitably dwindled. 

Applications for an 18-month extension on the Homes for Ukraine visa (officially titled The Ukraine Permission Extension Scheme) open on 4 February. But there are multiple concerns about what happens next. 

Firstly, Ukrainians can only apply for the extension if their current visa has less than 28 days before it expires. This is creating huge uncertainty – not least among the landlords and employers who are nervous about offering work or housing to people with temporary status. Worse, if the extension window is missed, Ukrainians become “undocumented”, even if their visa is later extended. This strips people of any rights and puts them at risk of intense exploitation.

Applications will only be accepted if the applicant is in the UK – meaning if someone is visiting family abroad or in Ukraine itself, and cannot return in time, they are trapped. While the visa is under review, people cannot travel. 

At the same time, vulnerable people – such as children and the elderly – might struggle to know about the need to apply for the extension visa, becoming undocumented through no fault of their own. The tight deadlines alone are causing vulnerable populations a great deal of unnecessary stress. 

These are the immediate concerns. But there are bigger issues too. By failing to give Ukrainians proper and permanent refugee status, the UK government is pushing them into limbo – sending the message that you can stay here for a while, but when the war ends we want you to go back. This prevents people from meaningfully rebuilding their lives in the UK – from investing in long-term work, in housing, in falling in love and having family.

It is undoubtedly true that most Ukrainians want this horrific war to end so they can return home. But some will inevitably want to stay in the UK because they have a job they like or value, a home here, a new partner and new friends. They should be allowed to make this choice. 

With no end of this war in sight, and no sign of when the occupied territories will be liberated, how can it be right that Ukrainians are bounced from one short term visa to the next, never getting refugee status and seeing their visa routes squeezed and cut? 

It’s not right. It’s not fair. Successive governments promised the Ukrainian people our solidarity and support, and instead we have cut off routes for safety and forced them onto short term visas in the seeming hope that the war will end and people will leave. 

It does not have to be this way. Let’s demand the government does better. Support the call for permanent settled status for Ukrainian refugees. 

More information / get involved with campaigning on these issues: info@ukrainesolidaritycampaign.org

Leave a comment