Ukraine Refugees: Safeguarding Concerns Amidst Reports of Exploitation

Last month the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), released a statement criticising the Homes for Ukraine Scheme. Citing increasing reports of Ukrainian women feeling unsafe, they have encouraged UK government to reassess the scheme.  

They outlined that the current matching process is not fit-for-purpose.  

Lone women are repeatedly being matched with single men displaying predatory behaviour. The UNHCR say the Homes for Ukraine scheme need “adequate safeguards and vetting measures to be in place against exploitation". 

Predatory behaviour 

According to an investigation by the BBC, there are a number of males joining matching groups with the intent of exploiting vulnerable women. In their report they highlight that these males are often 40+ and intent on matching with single women in their 20’s and 30’s. 

A whistle-blower who spoke to the BBC claimed around 30% of all those registered as sponsors are single men over-40. However, the government does not recognise these figures.  

But what is clear is that some refugees are finding themselves in a dangerous situation when they arrive in the UK. 

Critics of the scheme point to a lack of appropriate safeguarding checks as the root of the problem. 

Safeguarding Checks 

When criticised about a lack of safeguarding checks, government officials were quick to point out that there were safeguards in place. 

In a statement, they explained that all sponsors undergo Home Office security and background checks before visas are issued. And all sponsor households must have at least one council visit to their property before being able to host refugees. 

It is local authorities that are responsible for carrying out these checks. But people have been quick to point out that, unless children are involved, sponsors are only subject to Basic DBS Checks. 

Basic DBS Checks will only reveal unspent convictions, cautions, reprimands or warnings on someone’s criminal record history.  

This means that these checks don’t necessarily pick up relevant information which would affect a council's decision to allow someone to register as a sponsor. For example, this wouldn’t show complaints against an individual unless they’d resulted in some kind of enforcement action. 

The BBC reported one instance where, despite checks being carried out, a single Ukrainian woman was matched with a man in his 50’s with a history of domestic abuse and harassment. Fortunately, the match did not go ahead. 

In many cases, an Enhanced DBS Check, would reveal this information. This is because, on top of criminal record information, an Enhanced DBS certificate would also include any relevant intelligence held by the police which the deem necessary to share. 

However, Enhanced DBS Checks are only available to sponsor that are matched with families with children.  

Asking for more clarity 

At the moment, all the responsibility has fallen on councils to ensure appropriate safeguarding measures are in place. However, they are appealing to government for more clarity on how they can manage the process. 

In a recent statement, the Local Government Association (LGA) have asked the government to urgently ‘set out clearly and quickly ... expectations around both initial and ongoing safeguarding and housing checks, and these placed in the existing statutory frameworks.” 

They have also appealed to government to be able to use their own notes and intelligence to help them make suitability decisions for sponsors. They are currently limited to the checks outlined in the government guidance.