Will you sign up to the new refugee sponsorship scheme?

[JoyousOpalLemur]

The Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood is apparently announcing next week a new refugee sponsorship scheme.

It would allow households to privately sponsor refugees from conflict zones.

Applications open this autumn, with the aim of resettling more than 10,000 people.

It’s modelled on Canada’s scheme and the Homes for Ukraine programme.

Sponsors would commit to providing financial, emotional and practical support.

What do people think? I just can't help thinking that with the current pressures on housing, schools, GPs and local services, how this will actually work in practice? Has anyone been involved in the Ukraine sponsorship scheme and can share what it was really like day-to-day?

Curious to hear everyone’s views.

https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/home-secretary-announce-scheme-refugees-uk-lgdr8ff25

Nothing at all would tempt me to have a stranger move into my home.
The plan is bound to fail anyway .

Hell no.

Absolutely not. I don’t know anyone who had a positive experience hosting Ukrainians, and the people coming are likely to have needs I would t be able to support.

What does it mean by committing to providing emotional support?

We can barely support ourselves never mind a stranger.

This country really is getting a joke now. I wish I could emigrate and get the hell out of here .

I wouldn’t partake (but I wouldnt volunteer to host friends or family overnight either so I definitely wouldn’t have a stranger for a long period of time) but I think it’s a good idea.

To those worried about doctors etc, the uptake will be low - and are you suggesting people don’t have babies, or at least multiple babies to reduce pressure on public services too? Many of these refugees might be doctors and bus drivers etc that can help provide more services.

The irony of this post. Was it intended?

What are the safeguards in place before they go into people's homes ?
How would we know community groups are sponsoring real refugees and are there any weightings to women children or will we just be rescuing more and more men ??

God no. You’d never know who’d you’d end up with. A recipe for disaster.

sponsors would commit to providing financial, emotional and practical support.
for how long and to what extent and who determines the level of this?
does the refugee get to decide this level or the sponsor?
what if the sponsor’s circumstances change?

@WheretheFishesareFrightening we have huge amounts of imingration if we can't still find docs and bus driver we are doing something very wrong.
Many need the very targeted Oz and new Zealand style system..
Even a plasterer trying to live in Canada has to prove literally they can do it first.

Well yes, and whos checking? What if you say you can support young person under age of 16 and you get a 35yo with fake documents?

Read or listen to Lionel Shrivers new book A Better Life. A family does exactly this. It does not end well! Deals with the whole immigrant issue. Very good book.

If you think it's a good idea, why won't you partake? Is it just not logistical for you at this time?

It's not entirely clear what it would entail (that's why I'd like to hear the views of people who sponsored Ukrainians) but the sponsor would need to commit to at least 12 months of support

I think it's more intended for families to be able to rescue relatives than for old ladies with a spare room to adopt a stranger. As the article is behind a paywall, it's impossible to see whether they would be granted Refugee status or whether they'd be No Recourse to Public Funds, meaning the host would have to feed, clothe, house, pay for medical treatment, physiotherapy and all and any counselling/therapy to deal with PTSD needed as a result of their experiences.

It would also be of concern for both hosts and person whether their permission expires if an arrangement breaks down - that puts the individual at risk of coercion (and could facilitate modern slavery and potentially even child trafficking) and the sponsor, as desperate people can do desperate things if there's a possibility that they could be destitute, incarcerated and/or deported straight back if the sponsor can't continue.

The onus of responsibility towards refugees shouldn't fall on individuals to provide that level of support IMO.

I'm not against refugees seeking asylum. I think every country should take on their fair share of refugees. I think people should be able to flee unsafe places, but why should the emotional and financial burden be passed to individuals to provide that rather than the state?

So I'm guessing all the left wing MNetters who hate anyone who votes Reform or is concerned about the influx of rufugees and migrants will be signing up in droves to welcome one or two into your homes ❤️

FWIW I'm not a Reform voter 🙄 I'm a migrant myself.

Only if I knew that person very well. There are only 4 individuals in the world I would offer a home to.

I think if you have family who are in a conflict zone, knowing that they can come to live with you without all the red tape must be a big relief.

I don’t have the capacity, but I think the Ukraine scheme worked quite well for most people. If it helps stop the small boats (which is the intention but I’m not sure it will work) then that would be great, much better for people to come to the UK with some support than through people trafficking.

Tell us what you think, OP?

I wouldn’t have anyone live with me but yes would offer financial and emotional support.

The Ukraine system has lots of flaws - our friends have hosted two young men who are avoiding conscription, paid for my UK gov.
i always felt that that system was strange in its uptake but plenty of UK folk very down on other streams of migrants.

Non-paywalled article here. Community groups, not individuals

Mahmood outlines safe immigration routes plan to win over Labour left | Immigration and asylum | The Guardian https://share.google/ZpLDds4FjsNvWiu10