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

Great.
Here is a link you can use
https://refugeesathome.org/

Please keep us updated we are all on the edge of our seats to follow your "jouney"

I couldn't afford to sponsor a refugee on my own, but, as I said, if there was a local community group which was fundraising I would help. I'd consider offering up my spare room if needed.

I take it you are not a creepy predatory man though so will you be signing up?

I wouldn't but I know I should.
My grandad's family arrived in the UK in 1921, having had to flee Russia in 1917. They had to come the Indo China route because they didn't have a UK sponsor. They would have died.

My father came to the UK in 1938, on kinder transport. Fortunately a UK family took him in.

Refugees. Refugees who worked very hard in this country, paid high marginal rates of taxation and contributed to many things philanthropically all of their lives.

Fed up of virtue signallers that are so pro- immigration. But not with their home and not with their money. Basically full of shit.

Yeah, absolutely never! Cant wait for the sob stories of people who “just wanted to do good” and end up kicked out of their own house, having been assaulted and goodness knows what else. And no, I don’t wish harm on anybody but this idea is insane.
You’ll house a 38 year old “child”…good luck with that

and yet you still wouldn't.

Do you think think that is perhaps because a risk assessment of the countries these men are coming from, and their reputation proceeding them, shows they pose a credible threat to you and your family? Or something else?

For thee not me. I’m betting many will say the same.

The child thing was quietly closed down a few years ago when it was discovered young men were pretending to be 16-17 and were in fact late 20’s!

Good on anyone who does but it’s not for me

Yes I would. But then our family have taken in refugees before and never had a bad experience.

Interesting that Labour announced this after the Makerfield by-election not before. It might have changed the result as a lot of people are sick of this shxt.

A gift for Reform.

So much naiivity among the virtue-signalling set.

What refugees did you take in?

Absolutely bloody not. We do not want more unknown people here.

Yeah, it's weird how much less bigoted people are when it's women, children, disabled people from a country without a famously misogynistic culture. Must just be racism.

The Ukrainian scheme sadly didn't work anywhere near as well as it should. There were too many people who struggled to navigate the whole system and to then move onto their own properties. The sponsors tended to be well meaningful affluent people who were quite honestly somewhat naive in some cases. There were a number of refugees but also a number of people who were more economic migrants who saw it as an opportunity. I spoke to Ukrainians who were displaced who were really frustrated by those who were actively seeking benefits and didn't want to work. They were embarrassed by them, felt they made it harder and there was a real tension between Ukrainians from the East and Ukrainians from the West even within their own community over this within the UK.

The problem is how open it is to abuse and how there wasn't a huge amount of real consideration over some of these details.

Indeed I am aware that it was actively hardest for refugees from Eastern Ukraine who had fled at speed to get their claims approved. I personally know of one family who lived about 10 miles from the Polish border and had a secure flat who had their claim approved in 2 days compared to the six weeks of a family who lived 10 miles from the Russian border and had to run in the middle of the night and had a very dark experience indeed. That was depressing. The family that has really dug in has been the latter because they want to stay here permanently whereas the former made it clear they wished to get money, weren't that interested in learning the language or getting a job, not pay for accommodation and go back for a better standard of life. I don't blame them as such as I'm sure many of us would do similar but it was very much not really about what the scheme was intended for. It put an enormous strain on local services in areas which were not used to it.

Many hosts eventually felt abandoned and unsupported themselves in the end.

Without real thoughts about where the Ukrainian system was weak and how you would prevent these type of problems, I do think it creates more problems than it solves. That's not to say I'm against the idea in principle. More that it needs better safety nets and support allround to make it work for all parties and to ensure you don't get people taking the absolute piss.

Why though? The numbers involved are relatively small (10,000?) and it is not as though people are going to be forced to be a part of the scheme. It's doubtful it would be an issue to make or break a by-election.

Of course, anythong immigration related will be a gift to Reform. I am sure Farage will have something to say about this!

On the timing - perhaps Mahmood needs to throw the left of the party a bone to keep her job.

Also a way for people to put their money or home up rather than just talk about it.

Would love to be like your family, but small 2 bed house for me and adult DD it sadly won't be possible.

Maybe I can help out in other ways.

As the UK has a housing shortage, why can't we say the same thing - we haven't got the room but we do have compassion we could offer instead?

Interesting, thank you. The part that stands out for me was 'it put enormous strain on local services'.

That should make it a hard no for all concerned, even the 'well-meaning affluent people' who volunteer to be sponsers.

I agree, but the last point is a worry.

Absolutely not

I wouldn’t want to bring a stranger into my home, especially one with issues. I can’t imagine many people both wanting or able to financially and emotionally support a stranger.