Ukranian refugee homeless after Brighton host demanded money

A Ukranian refugee was forced to leave her Brighton host’s home after they demanded money for bills, it has been reported.

The Guardian has spoken to the 36-year-old refugee who says she is now homeless after her host told her to pay £50 a month towards bills or leave.

Brighton and Hove City Council’s deputy leader Hannah Clare said she was aware of the case, and that it highlighted concerns she had already raised about how the scheme works.

The refugee, called Olha by the Guardian, was quoted as saying: “I felt so upset I thought it would have been better for me to stay at home in Ukraine so that I wouldn’t experience anything like this.

“I don’t want to scare other Ukrainians who are coming here but what happened to me is dreadful. It has caused me so much stress and made me feel totally unsafe.

“My host told me I needed to go. But where should I go? I have only just arrived in the UK.”

She approached a local church group, who has found her somewhere to stay for a few days and the council is also supporting her. However, the Homes for Ukraine scheme does not allow the council to find her a different sponsor.

The scheme allows hosts to claim £350 a month to cover the costs of hosting refugees, and they are not supposed to demand any extra money from their guests.

Olha had been matched with her host, a British woman in her 60s, via a Facebook group before fleeing her home in Dnipro in late March and making her way to the UK by car in a journey which took two weeks.

The host gave her dinner on her first night, but then said she would be expected to provide her own food after that.

Councillor Clare, said: “We are sadly aware of this really unfortunate situation. We understand that the woman in question is safe and has been helped by a local community group to find another place to live temporarily. We will do what we can to offer her support.

“The government’s Homes for Ukraine Scheme has been badly put together.

“Among its flaws is the fact that there is no mechanism for councils to transfer a Ukrainian guest to an alternative sponsor when something like this happens.

“It is a private matching scheme that is not mediated by councils. We have warned all along of the risk of some relationships breaking down and inappropriate hosts taking part due to a lack of proper oversight by the government. The scheme is at its heart deeply flawed.

“Councils have no control over when Ukrainian guests arrive in the city, nor do we get adequate notice. We rely on information from hosts about when refugees are arriving. With this in mind it isn’t possible for councils to carry out property and welfare checks before guests arrive.

“We are working hard to make sure support is in place for both Ukrainian guests and host households to safeguard all those involved and prevent breakdown of the arrangements.”