More than 100,000 Ukrainians face being kicked out of Britain

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Ukrainian refugees must be given urgent clarity about what happens when their visas run out, Tory MPs have demanded, as around 100,000 face having to leave Britain in 2025.

Concerns have been raised about the lack of guidance as to what will happen to those who fled to the UK once their three-year visas under Britain’s pioneering resettlement schemes expire.

Sir Robert Buckland, the former justice secretary under Boris Johnson, said ministers should consider granting Ukrainians a more permanent status, as the “bespoke” offer devised for a “particularly urgent and unprecedented situation” requires a “further bespoke response”.

This could take the form of an arrangement with “higher degree of certainty”, while stopping short of full citizenship, he suggested.

Sir Robert said he would like to see preparatory work being done this year to afford “as much stability and certainty as possible” for the refugees, their employers and communities.
‘Clarity will allow families to plan’

Bob Seely, a fellow Tory MP and co-chairman of the all-party parliamentary group on Ukraine, praised the Government for supporting Ukrainian families, but also called for “important” clarity.

“With some having kids in school, we need to be able to allow them to plan,” he said.

After the war broke out in Ukraine, two programmes were set up for refugees to enter Britain: the Homes for Ukraine scheme and the Ukraine Family Scheme. Each granted stays of up to three years.

More than 182,100 Ukrainians have since entered the country via these channels. But as the majority came in the first six months, roughly 100,000 face being kicked out by September 2025.

Kate Brown, CEO of Reset, a charity consulted on the Homes for Ukraine scheme, said the refugees needed certainty as they had “started to rebuild their lives here”, securing jobs, building social networks and developing their English language skills.

Stan Beneš, from the charity Opora, also warned that issuing guidance one or two months before visas begin to expire “doesn’t really give people much space” to make long-term decisions.
‘Infrastructure in Ukraine completely destroyed’

Even if the conflict with Russia does end by 2025, many Ukrainians have expressed a desire to stay on in Britain. Half of Ukrainian adults intend to live in the UK most of the time even when they feel it is safe to return to their country, according to ONS data released in July.

Mr Beneš said: “The infrastructure in much of Ukraine has completely been destroyed. So if the war [ends] with a victory and every single person goes back, the infrastructure just wouldn’t be able to take it, there wouldn’t be enough resources to go around.

“So in a way, it’s almost a better thing if it’s a slower or more targeted return back of those that once it is safe, do want to go back. It’s just important to have a positive framing around it and on the UK side signalling that we’re not trying to steal people away from the country of Ukraine and away from this effort to rebuild once it’s safe to do so.”

A Home Office spokesman said: “Through our Ukraine schemes, we have provided Ukrainians with access to a three-year visa for temporary sanctuary in the UK. We will keep this under review should an extension be required in the future, in line with developments of the situation in Ukraine.”

Source: https://uk.news.yahoo.com/more-100-000-ukrainians-face-180140501.html