Ukrainians should just be given a three year stay in UK, no visa needed.

[Kendodd]

And they should be allowed to work, but not claim asylum.
And before people start jumping up and down 'they're not coming here, we're full up' minimal state support should be given to appease you lot. A network should be set up tso people with space, spare rooms etc can offer accommodation. Some of the people coming will be teachers, they can be supported in setting up informal or online schools for the children.
This is temporary, we are better than this. I know the Tories don't want it but they don't have to get over involved, individual people will step up and take people in. I know it's not perfect, but it's better than nothing.

Yabu - No
Yanbu Let them come

@ChocolateDeficitDisorder

Most of the U.K. population doesn’t own a spare bedroom.

I saw a stat the other day that 1/3 of UK homes have 2 or more spare bedrooms. I can't find the stat but it sounds about right.

We don't have an accommodation problem, we have an attitude problem.

An attitude problem ? So my 70 year old frail mother should welcome strangers into her house ? What a bizarre thing to say .

@Kendodd

And they should be allowed to work, but not claim asylum. And before people start jumping up and down 'they're not coming here, we're full up' minimal state support should be given to appease you lot. A network should be set up tso people with space, spare rooms etc can offer accommodation. Some of the people coming will be teachers, they can be supported in setting up informal or online schools for the children. This is temporary, we are better than this. I know the Tories don't want it but they don't have to get over involved, individual people will step up and take people in. I know it's not perfect, but it's better than nothing.

Yabu - No
Yanbu Let them come

why?

what about those fleeing Yemen or china or whatever do they get it too? all the people on dinghies?

or is it just white people displaced you want to wave thru with special treatment?

Btw, I fully support the performative activist idea of interested persons taking in as many refugees as they can. However, it is insane to generalize this into a requirement/strong recommendation on practical or moral grounds.

@Ilovegreentomatoes

Let's just open up our spare rooms to complete strangers who we have absolutely no idea about. After all what could possibly go wrong?

Indeed.

Laughable how you're told you have an 'attitude problem' on here though if you're not happy to do so.

I almost wish that people would refrain from playing the race card in these discussions. It happens every time on here. I do not think that most people care less about the colour of the skin of the refugees. however, they probably do care about attitudes to integration and cultural sympathies/affinities. It is part of our natural human response. All those mental backflips along racial lines closes down important discussions and leads to the unnecessary self censorship and greater divisiveness.

Kendodd - If you have a spare bedroom and are willing to help a Ukrainian, why do you need to start a thread about it? And what has stopped you from doing this for other refugees before?

Wait hang on. I thought we were the sick man of Europe, the laughing stock of the world, with a non existent NHS, third world levels of poverty and a police force corrupt from top to bottom?

Now we seem to be a safe, affluent country?

What about the black students who are being denied entry to Poland based on them being black. I feel so sorry for these people as well. What chaos it must be to finally think you're getting sanctuary after travelling miles only to be left in favour of people of a different skin colour.

@Soffit

I almost wish that people would refrain from playing the race card in these discussions. It happens every time on here. I do not think that most people care less about the colour of the skin of the refugees. however, they probably do care about attitudes to integration and cultural sympathies/affinities. It is part of our natural human response. All those mental backflips along racial lines closes down important discussions and leads to the unnecessary self censorship and greater divisiveness.

Yeah fuck that. I am not going to allow racist posters to get away with saying Europeans have more pride and standards than people from the " third world". That's my natural human response.

I almost wish that people would refrain from playing the race card in these discussions.

I'd like to know what the "race card" is in this instance and if you'd be willing to share who's played this card you speak of.

All those mental backflips along racial lines closes down important discussions and leads to the unnecessary self censorship and greater divisiveness.

I had no idea racial issues weren't important discussion and should take a backseat whenever it crops up or else it would be accused of bringing division and self-censorship (I hope this accusation also comes up whenever someone mentions feminist issues or ableist issues, etc).

Am I to assume you also agree with the statement of the poster we quoted and responded to or is it okay to only shut down discussion when you feel it mentions anything you don't like? I think saying that people are "playing the race card" shuts down discussions and creates self-censorship.

@Motherofgorgons Yes indeed, you're being waved away like a fly in someone's face, just like those people from third world countries with no pride or standards, whose feelings and emotions shouldn't/don't matter.

You must learn to know your place in these discussions and speak only when permitted.

I haven't asked that every British person should take a refugee into their homes. Refugee policy is so extremely complex that I don't feel I can discuss it on here. But to ask people to not bring up racism is like discussing the Met police and asking people to not play the " woman card". Look at the media coverage. It's all about 'blonde blue eyed people with Netflix' from ' civilized" nations. I will be damned if I am supposed to ignore that

Apparently now the gov have decided to accept 200k people into the UK.
I can see them waiving visas, letting refugees work and or claim benefits without the rigmarole of arduous processes. I doubt there'll be much push back tbh these are white people we're dealing with.

@Ilovegreentomatoes

Let's just open up our spare rooms to complete strangers who we have absolutely no idea about. After all what could possibly go wrong?

Yes indeed. If it was such an easy thing to do, why do we have a huge homelessness problem in this country?

I assume because the mumsnetters who are happy to offer their spare rooms are only happy to offer them to a certain class of homeless ,some might say that was "an attitude" problem.

It's a bad idea for any European country to allow in Ukrainian refugees. They need to stay in Ukraine and fight. Any other course of action puts the rest of Europe at greater threat from the Russians.

If a significant amount of Ukrainians flee, there will obviously be far fewer left to fight the Russians. The Russians will have less resistance, and at the same time a greater opportunity for bombing and rocket attacks because there will be fewer innocent people at risk.

Allowing refugees in from Ukraine will just make Ukraine fall faster. Once Ukraine is captured, the Russians will move westwards. Poland, Czechia, Slovakia, Estonia etc. will all be in the position Ukraine is in now. Do other countries let them in too? Which would just enable Russia an easier route to expansion.

Refusing refugees will cost more (Ukrainian) lives in the short term, but it will save countless more European lives in the long term.

It's a shame people don't think of the consequences of their proposals - the road to hell and all that.

Ukrainians actually have less need than the other two groups, imo, in that even if they stayed and Putin won, life would be nothing compared to the horrors of living under the Taliban or ISIS.

That is the most breathtakingly ignorant thing I have ever heard.

@MorrisZapp

Wait hang on. I thought we were the sick man of Europe, the laughing stock of the world, with a non existent NHS, third world levels of poverty and a police force corrupt from top to bottom?

Now we seem to be a safe, affluent country?

😂😂😂 Indeed. I too thought that everyone was trying to get out of the UK and no one wanted to live here anymore because it was just too awful under the crappy govt. So why are people being so awful as to offer space in a country which is so shameful and the laughing stock of the world to these poor unsuspecting Ukrainians?!

@ChocolateDeficitDisorder

Most of the U.K. population doesn’t own a spare bedroom.

I saw a stat the other day that 1/3 of UK homes have 2 or more spare bedrooms. I can't find the stat but it sounds about right.

We don't have an accommodation problem, we have an attitude problem.

You're right. I have the attitude that no one is moving into my 86yo mother's spare room.

@maddy68

The EU have waived any visa requirements. All Ukrainians are welcome. Shame on the UK

I agree, but this government knows that they have an electorate that largely supports keeping refuges out, as evidenced by the Brexit vote and the people bleating on social media about how full up we are. We're largely a nation of xenophobes and they know it.

@Soffit

I almost wish that people would refrain from playing the race card in these discussions. It happens every time on here. I do not think that most people care less about the colour of the skin of the refugees. however, they probably do care about attitudes to integration and cultural sympathies/affinities. It is part of our natural human response. All those mental backflips along racial lines closes down important discussions and leads to the unnecessary self censorship and greater divisiveness.

Exactly. @VelvetChairGirl I’m brown, so I can say it without being shut down but not all refugees are equal. Despite the ‘we’re all human’ nonsense pedalled. People who are culturally similar, speak the language and ready to work are a lot less effort compared to those who don’t. That doesn’t mean ‘don’t take them’ but it means that they will lots of resources before they can contribute to society. They can’t just sofa surf and find a job, especially if they want to keep cultural restrictions.

I don’t want a stranger in my spare room. But if I didn’t mind having one, there are plenty of refugees and asylum seekers to house now, I wouldn’t need to wait for Patel to lift the rules on Ukrainians. All those who want to offer a spare room, there are masses of Somalis, Yemenis and Syrians you can take in. You don’t need to wait for the ones you pick out.

All the people saying that Germany hasn't had any problems- the cologne attacks on thousands of women??!

And it would be a quick way into the UK for Russian agents if we weren't doing any checks at all.

Nope- it's my personal experience from having Ukranian staff and a neighbour/good friend. They also feel the same way. In a time when people are desperate to survive in the UK it is hard to view it as cheerily packing people into an inn. Deliberately departing from the economics and heading into wokey-cokey territory is at the root of the problem. However, these movements in consciousness also observe tidal wave patterns and take us from liberal to right wing back to liberal etc. through time.

No, a sweeping generalisation that one group of people are better/worse at something than another based solely on where they are from is Xenophobic.

Some Ukrainians may speak better english and have a stronger work ethic than some people from the Middle East. Equally, some people from the Middle East may speak better English and have a stronger work ethic than some people from the Ukraine.

Being Ukrainian doesn't automatically mean they will work harder or integrate better than someone from Iraq.

We should certainly do something because they're genuine refugees but we're a small overcrowded island with a high population density and a big homelessness problem and a real lack of social housing as it is. We struggle as it is to deal with the influx of asylum seekers.

Every country should do their bit though. USA/Canada/Australia have plenty of room. The onus can't always be on western Europe.