Cincunri Sakia

Senin, 14 Maret 2022

Ukraine war: UK refugee scheme set to launch - BBC

Refugees fleeing Ukraine at a centre in Slovakia, 13 March 2022

More details of a scheme to match Ukrainian refugees with people in the UK who are considering opening up their homes are to be set out later.

A website enabling people to express an interest in helping - for which they will receive a "thank you" of £350 a month - will then go live.

Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove said the plan could benefit tens of thousands of displaced people.

Meanwhile, the PM spoke to Ukrainian President Zelensky on Sunday night.

Boris Johnson pledged "to pursue more options for bolstering Ukraine's self-defence", No 10 said, and discussed efforts to end the war.

He also condemned the murders of US journalist Brent Renaud and countless innocent Ukrainians, Downing Street said.

The government is to send 500 portable electricity generators for use in facilities such as hospitals and shelters which have lost power following the invasion - something President Volodymyr Zelensky made a direct request for.

Mr Johnson is hosting a series of meetings with Nordic and Baltic leaders in London and Chequers this week.

No 10 says he will urge them to work together to ensure no further nations fall victim to Vladimir Putin's aggression.

War in Ukraine: More coverage

LIVE: Latest updates from Ukraine and nearby
SANCTIONS: Impact on everyday lives in Russia
EXIT: Russia faces brain drain as thousands flee abroad
RECRUITS: Ukraine's teenage soldiers
IN DEPTH: Full coverage of the conflict

Under the Homes for Ukraine scheme, people in the UK will be able to nominate an individual or family to stay with them rent-free, or in another property, for at least six months.

Applications will be made online, and both hosts and refugees will be vetted. Hosts will receive £350 a month.

The first hosts and refugees will be matched this week, allowing the first Ukrainians to arrive in the UK through this route in about two weeks' time, the BBC's chief political correspondent Adam Fleming says.

Organisations such as charities and churches will eventually be able to sponsor refugees, though there is no start date for this phase of the scheme yet.

Local authorities will also receive £10,500 in extra funding per refugee for support services - with more for children of school age.

'Too mean'

The NSPCC said, while it wanted the Homes for Ukraine scheme to happen as quickly as possible, it had concerns about safety checks on prospective hosts.

The children's charity said it was "vital child protection is built into every stage of the government's and local authorities' response to this crisis".

The government has faced criticism - including from its own MPs - over the speed and scale of its response.

Conservative MP Danny Kruger told the BBC the Home Secretary "must take responsibility" for the problems Ukrainian refugees have faced in coming to the UK.

And Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer described the UK's assistance for refugees as "too slow, too narrow, too mean".

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said on Sunday Home Secretary Priti Patel should be sacked for "incompetence, indifference and sheer inhumanity" in leading the response.

The Home Office has defended requiring security checks on Ukrainians fleeing Russia's invasion, saying it needs to ensure the UK helps those in genuine need.

It says it has already seen people falsely claim to be Ukrainian.

More than 2.5 million refugees have left the country because of Russia's invasion with a further 1.85 million displaced inside the country, according to latest estimates by the UN Refugee Agency.

Meanwhile, 21 Ukrainian children with cancer will shortly begin NHS treatment in the UK, the health secretary said.

Do you plan to open your home to a Ukrainian refugee? Email: haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk.

Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist. You can also get in touch in the following ways:

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2022-03-14 07:14:03Z
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Minggu, 13 Maret 2022

COVID-19: Surge in Hong Kong coronavirus cases pushes neighbouring Chinese city of Shenzhen into lockdown - Sky News

A city of 17.5 million people in China has gone into lockdown after a spike in coronavirus cases in neighbouring Hong Kong.

Everyone in Shenzhen will undergo three rounds of COVID-19 testing after 60 new cases were reported on Sunday.

All businesses except those providing essential goods such as food and fuel have been ordered to shut or operate from home.

The number of coronavirus cases in China's latest infection surge are low compared to other countries and with Hong Kong, which reported more than 32,000 on Sunday.

But mainland authorities are enforcing a "zero tolerance" strategy and have locked down entire cities to find and isolate every infected person.

As part of the clampdown, access to China's most populous city of Shanghai has been restricted with bus services suspended and a negative test required from anyone wanting to enter.

Shenzhen is home to some of China's most prominent companies, including telecoms equipment giant Huawei Technologies.

The authorities reported 1,938 new cases on the Chinese mainland on Sunday, more than triple the previous day's total.

Around three-quarters of those - 1,412 cases - were in Jilin province in the northeast, where entry to the industrial city of Changchun has been suspended and families were told to stay at home.

China, where the first coronavirus cases were detected in late 2019 in the central city of Wuhan, has reported a total of 4,636 deaths on the mainland out of 115,466 confirmed cases since the pandemic started.

In Hong Kong, a health official warned the public not to assume the territory's deadly coronavirus surge was under control as the government reported 190 new deaths, most of them elderly people, and 32,430 new cases.

This is down from above 50,000 after strict travel and business curbs were imposed.

Hong Kong, which has 7.4 million residents, is trying to contain an outbreak that has killed 3,993 people, most of them in the latest surge driven by the omicron variant, and swamped hospitals.

"People should not get the wrong impression that the virus situation is now under control," Dr Albert Au, an expert with the government's Centre for Health Protection, said.

"Once we let our guard down, it's possible that (infections) will bounce back and rise again."

On the mainland, 831 new cases were reported on Sunday in Changchun, 571 in the nearby provincial capital city of Jilin and 150 in the eastern port city of Qingdao.

Figures published earlier this week showed six million people have now died of coronavirus since the pandemic began.

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2022-03-13 16:18:45Z
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Ukraine war: UK households offered £350 a month for hosting refugees - BBC

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Households in the UK will be offered £350 a month to open their homes to people fleeing the war in Ukraine.

Housing Secretary Michael Gove told the BBC tens of thousands of people could come to the UK under the scheme and he may offer a room to a refugee.

But the Refugee Council is concerned about the level of support for those traumatised by war.

Labour said there were unanswered questions, accusing the government of "dragging its feet" over the crisis.

Under the Homes for Ukraine scheme, people will be able to nominate a named individual or a family to stay with them rent-free, or in another property, for at least six months. A website to express an interest in being a sponsor will launch on Monday.

Mr Gove also told the BBC's Sunday Morning programme the government was looking at using the properties of Russian oligarchs sanctioned by the UK for "humanitarian purposes" but there was "quite a high legal bar" and this measure would lapse as sanctions ended.

Retailers Sainsbury's, Marks & Spencer and Morrisons are among the UK companies offering to employ Ukrainian refugees.

Asos said it wanted to attract Ukraine's strong technology engineering skill set, while soap shop Lush said it would open up internal vacancies to refugees.

Addressing a rally outside Downing Street on Sunday, Ukraine's ambassador to the UK, Vadym Prystaiko, called for more support, weapons and humanitarian assistance.

War in Ukraine: More coverage

LIVE: Latest updates from Ukraine and nearby
SANCTIONS: Impact on everyday lives in Russia
EXIT: Russia faces brain drain as thousands flee abroad
RECRUITS: Ukraine's teenage soldiers
IN DEPTH: Full coverage of the conflict

Local authorities will also receive £10,500 in extra funding per refugee for support services - with more for children of school age, the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities said.

More than 2.5 million people have so far fled Ukraine because of Russia's invasion, in what the UN has called the fastest-growing refugee crisis since World War Two.

The government has faced criticism - including from its own MPs - over the speed and scale of its response.

Defending the government's response, Mr Gove told the BBC the number of Ukrainians fleeing the war who had been granted visas had now risen to 3,000.

Ukrainian refugees rest at Krakow railway station

At the moment, only those fleeing the conflict who have family connections in the UK are able to make an application via the Ukraine Family Scheme. Other visas are available but application centres in Ukraine are closed.

Under the new scheme sponsors in the UK will not be required to know the refugees in advance and there will be no limit on numbers. Ukrainians on the scheme will be given leave to remain for three years, with the right to work and access public services.

Mr Gove told the BBC that he anticipated "tens of thousands" of Ukrainians might be taken in by UK families and he hoped people fleeing the war would be able to benefit from the scheme "within a week".

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Applications would be made online, with both sponsors being vetted and refugees having to go through security checks. The sponsor would get a "thank you" payment of £350 a month.

He said: "It's the fastest way we can get people out of danger and into the United Kingdom."

Asked if he would take a Ukrainian refugee into his home, Mr Gove said: "Yes," and that he was "exploring what I can do".

"Without going into my personal circumstances, there are a couple of things I need to sort out - but yes," he added.

In a later phase of the scheme, organisations such as charities and churches will also be able to sponsor refugees, though there is no start date for this yet.

Analysis box by Jonathan Blake, political correspondent

Two weeks since it was announced, we now have some details of the scheme allowing people to host refugees in their homes.

The idea is a simple one, but the practicalities of matching those fleeing Russia's invasion with willing households in the UK won't be easy.

Aiming to place people with hosts within a fortnight is ambitious and the system is untested.

Ministers are keen to avoid using hotels or other temporary accommodation used by Afghans last year, and are adamant that security checks should stay in place on those fleeing Ukraine.

But for some Conservative MPs, let alone Labour and other opposition parties, the government's response has fallen short.

And it's no accident that Michael Gove - and not the Home Secretary Priti Patel - is fronting the latest efforts to smooth out and speed up the process of settling people in the UK.

What ministers have described as a cross-government approach has looked at times like inter-departmental wrangling over who's best placed to get things done.

The Refugee Council - a charity supporting refugees and asylum seekers in the UK - said it was concerned people from Ukraine were facing further "bureaucratic hurdles", and the government scheme fell short of what was needed.

Chief executive Enver Solomon said: "We are concerned that people from Ukraine are still not being recognised as refugees and being asked to apply for visas when they just need to be guaranteed protection."

Claiming formal refugee status, or permission to stay for humanitarian reasons through the asylum system, does not require a visa and allows an applicant and their dependants to stay in the UK for five years, with the right to work, study and apply for benefits.

For the third time in a year, John Rutherford and his wife Sue are considering opening up their south London house to a refugee.

"We have a big house, my kids have left home," says John. "It's not a great hardship for us to make some space for a refugee."

In 2021, they hosted one person from Ethiopia and one from Iran, each for a couple of weeks while they awaited longer-term accommodation during the asylum application process.

And now, he is ready to open his five-bedroom house again.

"It was the sheer numbers involved that made me want to help... there could be four or five million people looking for places to stay, so the UK has to do its bit and the British people have to do their bit."

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer told Sky News the government's visa schemes have been "too slow, too narrow, too mean", adding that the government had not consulted local councils about the support that needs to be put in place.

"Frankly the last few weeks have been an embarrassment to the United Kingdom in terms of refugees," he said.

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey has said Home Secretary Priti Patel should be sacked for the government's response to Ukrainian refugees.

"The incompetence, indifference and sheer inhumanity we have seen from the home secretary does not befit our United Kingdom, with its proud history of providing sanctuary to those in need," he told the party's spring conference in York.

Map showing countries Ukrainians are fleeing to

The first ministers of Scotland and Wales have written to the UK government to propose that their nations go further with the new scheme, acting as "super sponsors" to offer temporary accommodation to refugees and enable them to come to the UK faster.

Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and her counterpart in Wales, Mark Drakeford, called for all visa requirements for Ukrainian nationals to be waived and urged the government to provide more clarity on how the scheme will work.

The European Union is allowing Ukrainians three-year residency without a visa, but the UK says controls on entry are essential for security.

The Republic of Ireland's prime minister Micheal Martin told the BBC's Sunday Morning show that his country had taken in 5,500 Ukrainian refugees but had not carried out any security checks on entry, saying: "The humanitarian response trumps everything as far as we're concerned."

He said the UK had not raised any issues about security and the two countries' shared Common Travel Area with him.

Meanwhile, celebrities including actors Benedict Cumberbatch and Stephen Graham have shown their support for Ukraine at the Bafta Awards 2022, under way in central London.

Do you plan to open your home to a Ukrainian refugee? Email: haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk.

Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist. You can also get in touch in the following ways:

WhatsApp: +44 7756 165803
Tweet: @BBC_HaveYourSay
Or fill out the form below
Please read our terms & conditions and privacy policy

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2022-03-13 18:01:57Z
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Ukraine war: UK households offered £350 a month for hosting refugees - BBC

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Households in the UK will be offered £350 a month to open their homes to people fleeing the war in Ukraine.

Housing Secretary Michael Gove told the BBC tens of thousands of people could come to the UK under the scheme and he may offer a room to a refugee.

But the Refugee Council is concerned about the level of support for those traumatised by war.

Labour said there were unanswered questions, accusing the government of "dragging its feet" over the crisis.

Meanwhile, retailers Sainsbury's, Marks & Spencer and Morrisons are among the UK companies offering to employ Ukrainian refugees.

Asos said it wanted to attract Ukraine's strong technology engineering skill set, while soap shop Lush said it would open up internal vacancies to refugees.

War in Ukraine: More coverage

LIVE: Latest updates from Ukraine and nearby
SANCTIONS: Impact on everyday lives in Russia
EXIT: Russia faces brain drain as thousands flee abroad
RECRUITS: Ukraine's teenage soldiers
IN DEPTH: Full coverage of the conflict