According to the preliminary assessment of the Office for National Statistics (ONS), last summer, a record of half a million was set for the number of immigrants coming to this island. A third of these were Ukrainian citizens. In July, Kommersant UK published a large report on the difficulties faced by Ukrainian refugees and the volunteers and charities that support them in Britain. It is now apparent that the situation has not improved and the most unfavourable forecasts are coming true.
Housing crisis
In March, the government created a programme called Homes for Ukraine which was supposed to provide arriving families with accommodation. A central feature of the scheme was for the British sponsors to provide living quarters for six months. Nine months have since elapsed and now housing has become the most pressing issue both for the refugees and the state.
On December 14, new measures were announced to update the programme. According to the government site Gov.uk, it has already helped over 100,000 Ukrainians. The £350 payments to sponsors have been prolonged from 12 months to two years. Additionally, for the years 2023 and 2024, local councils have been allotted £150m to reduce the risk of homelessness and help Ukrainians to move out of spare rooms and into separate housing. Another £500m has been assigned to the regions that have been most severely affected by the housing crisis caused by the influx of refugees.
Besides this programme, there are another two; the Ukraine Family Scheme for the family members of people living in the UK and the Ukraine Extension Scheme for the prolongation of leave to remain in the country for those arriving between 18 March 2022 and 16 May 2023.
Although, on government sites, everything looks pretty slick, the pages of newspapers are dotted with all kinds of information; from stories of people being thrown out on the street to fury over ‘freeloading hoards’. The Guardian writes that volunteers and local authorities are finding it harder and harder to find sponsors ready to accept Ukrainians. Three months ago, the newspaper forecast that over the year, the number of homeless refugees would grow to 50,000. According to national statistics, in December 2022, 2,985 families were classed as homeless, 2,070 of which had children. This was an increase of nearly 50% on June, when this figure was 1,565. The highest rates of homelessness were in Buckinghamshire and the London boroughs of Greenwich, Kensington and Chelsea and Hammersmith and Fulham.
Volunteers and council representatives explain this state of affairs as caused by the housing crisis, bureaucracy, and a poorly thought-through strategy, exacerbated by cultural differences, personal conflicts and a general sense of uncertainty. The current pause on submissions for new sponsors in Scotland and Wales has contributed to the problem. But on its site, the government affirms that ‘Britain will accept as many people fleeing Ukraine as wish to come and for whom sponsors can be found. This is an enormous humanitarian crisis and we call upon British society to respond and help where this is possible’. But British society is in a state of great confusion. Currently, the refugees themselves consider the housing question to be the most serious problem.
Sasha Duncan, lawyer and human rights specialist:
The flow of refugees has slowed, but this doesn’t mean that a new wave can’t start. President Zelensky has asked people to leave for the winter to reduce the strain on the power grid. Overall, however, we see migration in both directions.
More than half a year has passed, and a great many sponsors have refused to continue to shelter refugees. As a result, people have ended up on the street. Responsibility for them rests on the shoulders of the local authorities and social services can’t cope. While Hammersmith and Fulham Council has offered to pay sponsors out of its own funds, Ealing Council is not keeping track of refugees, it’s not controlling or checking anything. From personal experience, I’d say that social workers are deliberately misinforming Ukrainians about their rights. I understand that they’re doing this because of the strain on the practically nonexistent housing fund, but there is a lack of understanding of the seriousness of the situation. I think that this is a failing of these state programmes, which have been declared successful, but are not actually training staff. No one knows what’s going to happen next.
Ukrainians with money can’t rent housing as they lack guarantors or a credit history. Some people are ready to rent to refugees on benefits, because they pay, but to find them you need to know the right landlords and have legal, linguistic and logistical support. To help financially solvent refugees, my colleague, a lawyer and businessman, devised a scheme in which an insurance company was created especially for the purpose of verifying Ukrainians’ incomes and credit-worthiness. The compay assumes the role of guarantor for property owners. My colleagues and I plan to lobby parliament to ensure that, having allowed such a large number of people to enter the country, in the future, the state provides well-organised help, with instructions and guarantees. Also, via the Ukrainian Community and the Opora telegram channel (meaning ‘Support’), we have launched and distributed a questionnaire for Ukrainians so we can understand what problems they are encountering and how we can help.
A story with a history
A whole series of problems flow from the housing shortage. Most pressingly for Ukrainian refugees, in these conditions their lack of a credit history means it’s impossible for them to rent a property independently, even if they have the money. They can’t even buy a phone on a contract, whether or not they have a steady job. To rent housing without a guarantor, either a minimum income of £12,000 is required per family member, or the first six-months’ rent must be paid in advance. For refugees, all these conditions are virtually unfulfillable. For example, Marina Murlyan and her parents work and do not receive Universal Credit, but they cannot rent a home independently. They are lucky that their sponsor has prolonged their contract for another year and pays all their bills for them. Marina believes that the owner understands their situation well because, as a child, he came here himself as an Iraqi refugee. But in June they will still have to move. So far it’s not clear how they’ll do this or where they’ll go.
It turns out that the credit issue also has a solution. To create a credit history, it’s necessary to take out a personal loan at quite a high-interest rate and make regular payments. From a financial perspective, this inconvenience makes little sense, but nevertheless, it is a way out.
Who’s who
Since February 24, all around the world, a huge wave of volunteer movements has appeared to help refugees. They operate in the most different spheres imaginable; from fundraising to providing humanitarian assistance, from psychological and legal support to the organisation and accompaniment of complex logistical operations. Volunteers suffer from tiredness and burnout. Many note that, besides gratitude, it’s not unusual to receive negative comments about their ‘Russianness’. At the same time, there is unity and support inside the volunteer organisations themselves, where there are many who emigrated long ago from the Post Soviet Space. Their work goes on virtually around the clock; when Europe sleeps, America goes on duty, followed by volunteers in Russia, as the most difficult logistical challenge is devising safe routes to transport people out of the war zone.
Those helping Ukrainians get settled in Britain say that the migrants can be divided into three categories. The first see arrival in the United Kingdom as a stroke of good fortune; they look around, learn the language, find work and recognise that everyone who finds themselves in new conditions in life must go through the trials of adaptation. The psychological aspect remains the most challenging for many people in this category, as not everyone can accept the uncertainty.
The second category of refugees has the greatest difficulty adapting. These are people who cannot come to terms with their changed living conditions, the need to adapt to a foreign culture and to ‘bend to the world around them’. Many fall into depression as they cannot accept that it is not always possible to find suitable work in England, or a salary ‘like before’. British jobcentre staff and workers at charities helping refugees to find work affirm that middle-aged men who previoulsy worked in highly paid, prestigious positions are the least ready to adjust to the new reality around them. They do not want to consider ‘simpler’ work. Women become victims of cultural differences and refuse to accept local habits, manners, medicine, education and so on. They constantly draw parallels, saying ‘but back home…’. Many complain and take rather passive positions, feeling that others should do everything for them; volunteers, social services, sponsors and officials. Overall, many complaints and grievances and much talk that ‘nothing is right’ can be heard from this category of refugees.
The third category, unfortunately, greatly discredits the others. These are people who have decided to use the system in their own interest, and often dishonestly. In this way, from the very start, Ukrainian passport holders who were not refugees have taken advantage of free train travel around the country, or come here on sponsor or family schemes from third countries to which they emigrated long before the start of the military crisis. ‘Grey’ or ‘shady’ schemes litter the internet. People share advice and semi-legal moneymaking schemes for gaming the system. Often this information is untested or misleading, such as that about free education in Scotland or social housing for all homeless people.
Sasha Duncan, lawyer and human rights specialist:
Ukrainians have received unprecedented rights and opportunities. Arrival in the country has been facilitated using a simplified procedure. They receive tremendous support from social services and the local people, who want to help them. But there is the feeling that the system is trying to drive people away and reduce the flow of refugees because there are no resources. However, since the programme has been announced, it has somehow to be put into practice. As a result, the form refugees have to fill in has changed; it’s got much more time-consuming. Now it’s necessary to have access to programmes which upload biometric data, which are not available to everyone. But I understand why this is happening; a large number of Ukrainian illegal immigrants, who were already in the country have taken advantage of the situation to legalise themselves. Let’s be honest and admit that this has happened. On the other hand, these people have been here for a while, they work and contribute to a society which is experiencing an accute labour shortage.
A cultural code
Experts and political commentators predict that, unfortunately, this will be a drawn-out war. This means it’s not clear what will happen and where the state will find resources when Ukraians’ three-year visas run out. The lawyer Sasha Duncan notes that, together with her colleagues, the charity Britain for Ukraine is already preparing to lobby for assistance programmes for Ukrainians which will extend into the future.
Currently, there is tremendous demand for people with knowledge of the language. But the translation sector in Britain is poorly regulated, and translators are badly paid. There are malicious people who, clearly because of a tribal sense of hostility, may give incorrect translations. But each mistake is critical, as people’s fates depend on them.
Conflict and hostility arise as a result of cultural differences and ignorance of the language. If people have got the wrong picture of the situation from the start, this can grow into a serious conflict, which is why it’s so important to have interpreters who don’t just translate, but who can also act as cultural intermediaries.
Sasha Duncan also underlines that the negative attitude of the locals is absolutely objective, as there is a proportion of the refugees who believe that everyone owes them a debt. These people do not want to adjust to local conditions. Ukrainian culture has specific features; they speak loudly, demand special attention, raise their voices, settle scores and make demands. To be honest, this is typical of Eastern Europeans and people from the Former USSR in general. The English take this pressure as aggression and disrespect, and despite the initial goodwill on both sides, conflicts occur. ‘You mustn’t make demands in England, you have to ask quietly and very politely, without forgetting to say “thank you '' regularly’ recommends the lawyer. ‘There is a general sense of fatigue. There are refugees from other countries, and other people with problems, as well as locals who have been on waiting lists for housing for years and don’t demand special treatment. Problems have to be faced with dignity. And the majority does so, but those who behave differently, unfortunately, could provoke a general rejection of all Ukrainians’.
Here there is a completely different cultural understanding of responsibility, politeness and attitude. This is why, besides the logistical problems of the housing crisis, there is also a large ongoing disconnect. Ukrainians find it hard to understand why people keep their distance here, and why you can’t just drop in on your neighbour. Even their own relatives who have been living here for a while, and have adopted local manners, feel encumbered by the pushiness and demands of family members who have just arrived. There are no joint cultural programmes organised for Ukrainians and Britons together, and they are needed. Many misunderstandings arise over kitchen-sink issues. Everyone wants to understand where these conflicts come from and why so many sponsors are refusing to prolong their hospitality to Ukrainians. And this is all because Ukrainians often have excessive demands and the habit of ‘beating things out’, while the British are used to hiding their true thoughts and feelings.
Not for children
Most Ukrainian refugees are women and children. There are no particular problems with schoolchildren. The main thing is to get them a school place, which depends on what the system can serve up, as there simply aren’t the places in all neighbourhoods. Often sponsors help with schools; they continue their sponsor contracts so as not to tear a child out of the steady rhythms of the academic year. Things are not so encouraging for families in hotels, however. As a hotel cannot be considered a fixed address, children can’t get school places. This also complicates job hunting for their mothers. But this state of disarray affects older children worse of all. They hang around in gangs, play table tennis all day and find ways to buy alcohol and cigarettes. Their workaround isn’t so sophisticated; Ukrainians are allowed to use a photocopy of their passport, so teenagers soon worked out they could make a photocopy of a photocopy and change the date of birth to give themselves ‘the age of majority’.
It’s also hard for those who are ready and willing to get a higher education. At universities, there are funds ready to cover the full study costs of talented students. These grants are usually awarded to people from vulnerable or low-income groups in society. But a grant does not cover living or transport costs, and student loans aren’t given to those who have received grants. However, without a grant, this loan covers either tuition fees (but not always completely), or living costs. It’s obvious that a family of refugees cannot afford the extra financial burdens of a British student.
Masha McMinn, director of UK Integration:
In Britain, higher education is not compulsory. It’s a privilege and a conscious decision. The British seriously consider whether taking this step is necessary as, afterwards, the loan will need to be paid off for a long time. For Ukrainians, as for other people from the Post Soviet Space, higher education is a necessity. After the final year of school, they head straight off to a good university. Over here, people take a year or two to think things over, travel, and try the world of work. Before choosing a profession, they need to understand what they actually want and try living independently. Ukrainians on this island have the same rights as the locals. Personally, I believe that 17 is too young to go to university. It's better to take advantage of the opportunity to live in a foreign country, improve your language skills and try a job.
Look out for the car
One serious problem which is yet to have a solution in legislation is private cars. Many Ukrainians came to Britain in their own cars. Quite a significant proportion of sponsors live in rural areas. The living conditions there are good, but without a car, it’s impossible to even take a child to school. When people left Ukraine, of course, it didn’t occur to them to remove their cars from the national register. In Europe, Ukrainians have been given special permission to use their own transport without re-registering it for three years. In Britain, initially, there was the C110 form, which allowed motorists to use their cars for the duration of their Biometric Residence Permit, but in September 2022, this was discontinued. Now cars have to go through customs clearance and be re-registered, which is not at all straighforward; officially, cars which are registered in Ukraine need to be returned there and presented to the authorities, who should remove the number plate and replace it with a temporary one, and only after the car has left Ukraine for a second time can it be registered abroad. However, in a range of cities, for example in Kherson Region, there are no longer any facilities to do this and it is physically impossible to remove cars from registration. It’s also impossible to remove cars from the registry if they are co-owned, belong to a company or business partner, bought on credit, leased, or used under power of attorney. If a car is registered here and not removed from the registry over there, it will be impossible to take it back to Ukraine as it will have a new British plate and a Ukrianinan serial number. In Ukraine, a car like this will come up as stolen, which entails administrative and criminal responsibility. Marina Murlyan left Britain in April with her parents and two children. They live on their sponsors’ property, a guest cottage on the grounds of a country estate. Without a car, she can’t go to the shops or take her children to school.
‘I wrote to the transport department, to the council, and the local MP. The answer was the same; I can’t use my car until it has been re-registered. I’m ready to pay road tax and register my vehicle, but I can’t change my plate. I can’t buy a different car either; money issues are now quite urgent in our family. Of course, I could do a ‘refitting’ by changing the steering wheel, lights and speedometer, but that would be expensive, difficult and not really worth it. European cars cost two to three times more than they do over here, so I’d be out of pocket if I sold it. Taking these measures only makes sense, you see, if you stay here long-term, but we hope to go home. The result is that I drive at my own risk. I have a green card, insurance and an official letter. I think that there is a gap in the legislation, and I’m trying to get an exception made so that Ukrainians in Britain are considered for the European scheme. By the way, in England, you need to change your licence as well. When you receive a UK licence they take away your Ukrainian one and this means that I'll have to go to Ukraine with a British licence and do my theory and practice again to get a new Ukrainian licence’.
Kommersant UK thanks everyone who agreed to talk about the situation. We really hope that in this new year 0f 2023, we’ll be able to report that things have changed for the better.
