Homes for Ukraine exploited by men offering shelter for sex, charity warns
A Glasgow refugee charity has said it has received
reports from young Ukrainian women fleeing the war claiming that men registered with Homes for Ukraine have been contacting them and offering free accommodation via the scheme in return for sex.
The warning came as social media users in Ukraine reported women were circulating information advising vulnerable females on how to avoid rape amid fears of exploitation of refugees, as well as claims that Russian soldiers are raping women.
There have also been 24,400 visas granted under the Ukraine family scheme out of 32,800 applications received, according to provisional data on the department’s website.
However, the Home Office confirmed that, as of Thursday, 4,700 visas had been issued under the Homes for Ukraine sponsorship scheme
Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon attacked the UK government over the lack of visas under the scheme.
“Two weeks on from opening the Homes for Ukraine scheme, the process of translating applications into visas
is unacceptably slow,” she said. “The UK government is letting the people of Ukraine down and also letting down people across Scotland who have opened their homes.
“There is a clear and urgent need to speed up the processing of applications and the granting of visas. It is essential that the UK government addresses these lengthy delays to provide rapid support to those in need.”
Positive Action in Housing, which is helping 593 Ukrainian families and young people find shelter in the UK, said it was arranging safe passage for three people aged under 21 who it persuaded not to use social media to find a sponsor.
Director Robina Qureshi said the way the UK government’s scheme was being run would be “shut down by any regulator” if carried out by an
NGO. She said in one case, a day before the scheme opened last month, a man contacted a young Ukrainian woman who was seeking information about Homes for Ukraine on social media. He asked her to send photos of herself and tell him about herself. He sent her a link to “Homes for Ukraine”. She declined to send photos.
He then stated: “Phase one is open on Friday. There are some people who are interested in coming to my house. So I need to make a decision. I am a doctorandlivealoneinabighouse.”
He then sent her photos of himself sitting in first class on a plane, a picture of his sports car and the rooms in a luxury house, including a jacuzzi.
She replied: “I'll probably use the official application, as I don't trust anyone in such a situation coming to a foreign country … I'm not looking for dating. And I know what some people use it for, I'm also not into some kind of escort.”
He replied: “I am doing this through the official route. I have registered and I can nominate one person.”
The man then sent a screen shot of his confirmation email from Homes for Ukraine. He went on to offer her an “arrangement” – a euphemism for sex. He said: “So, free accommodation, food, expenses, plus a monthly allowance. The other option for you is to register with charities in which case you will [be] allocated randomly.”
The woman said she was with her mother, and he declined to help.
Ms Qureshi said: "We are right now observing safeguarding breaches and unsafe situations on an industrial scale as a result of the homes for refugees scheme.
"This scheme has lost all credibility as a trusted route for women, children and young people. The government sidelined NGOS and established hosting networks and this is the mess created – war refugees being directed down the road of human trafficking
“Nowso-called‘sponsors’registeredwithhomesforukraine have gone onto social media to offer shelter for sex to war refugees. Who is the genuine sponsor and who is the trafficker? Nobody knows for sure.
“We are worried that Ukrainian refugees, especially children and young people as young as 13, confuse the official registered email from Homes for Ukrainians sent to those who sign up to the Government’s register and think the ‘sponsor’ is legitimate and cleared. We were in visceral shock when we saw what was unfolding.
"If an NGO did this, it would be shut down by every regulator. But no, it’s the Government. We expect to see and hear much worse in the coming weeks and months."
Reports have increased of Russian soldiers raping women in Ukraine.
Last month, Lesia Vasylenko, a member of Ukraine's parliament, said there were reports of women, some elderly, being gang raped. Last week Ukraine’s prosecutor general, Iryna Venediktova, said an attack on a woman in a suburb of Kyiv – who claimed she was raped in front of her young child – was being investigated by the authorities.
Kyiv journalist Anastasiia Lapatina wrote on Twitter yesterday: “How to protect yourself from rape” is an actual post circulating among Ukrainian girls on Instagram right now. This is our reality.”