Women outnumber men among refugees coming to the UK for the first time

Women have outnumbered men for the first time among refugees arriving in the UK, a charity report reveals, as a result of the large wave of Ukrainian families fleeing Russia’s invasion.

This year for the first time women made up 60 per cent of 1445 refugees that have been referred to Refugees at Home, a charity that matches refugees with hosts across the UK.

By the end of August, Refugees at Home had made placements for more than 800 Ukrainian people under the government’s Homes for Ukraine scheme, making up two thirds of the charity’s total placements since February.

Many women have fled the war in Ukraine with their children, the charity said.

Fewer than half of the 905 current Ukrainian referrals to the charity are single applicants. More than 100 are travelling with partners and more than a third, 385, are travelling with family which would involve children in most cases.

To help with the rising number of refugees, a further 12,000 people came forward to offer their homes as hosts, an increase of 600 per cent, the report said.

Lauren Scott, the charity’s Executive Director, said a female refugee travelling on her own would never be put with a male host they don’t know.

“One of our main concerns about the Homes for Ukraine scheme has been the lack of safeguarding around this issue.

“ We have seen so many posts on sites like Facebook with men offering accommodation to single Ukrainian women, often even specifying their preferred ages. So vulnerable women fleeing war and travelling on their own might easily end up living with predatory and controlling men who they have met online.

“We want to see hosting normalised as a way of supporting refugees and asylum seekers, wherever they come from. But it only works if there are proper checks, ongoing support is provided, and there is a plan in place for what happens at the end of the stay.”

Refugees at Home said the organisation has had to “completely overhaul” its match-making operation, quadrupling the number of its permanent staff.

“It has been a period of major upheaval and more than ever before we need support to maintain this new level of activity,” the report stated.

But with nearly half of all placements being in London, matchmakers have found it difficult to find hosts with more than one spare room who can accommodate a family, amid the capital’s housing shortage.

The number of refugee placements in London has more than doubled within a year, with 290 being made between September 2021 and August 2022, compared with 136 between September 2020 and August 2021.

The Covid pandemic has contributed to some of the increase, the charity said.

Charities have struggled to find enough hosts in London amid the cost of living crisis and fatigue about the war in Ukraine.

London is also the preferred location of choice among Hong Kong arrivals on the British National (Overseas) visa and Afghan refugees awaiting resettlement in hotels, contributing to record levels of migration.

Reset, a service that matches refugees with hosts in the UK, had around 540 Ukrainians mentioning London on their applications in October, but just 28 hosts available in the capital.

An individual guest waiting for a match in London will probably wait about six weeks, but family groups might be waiting months and, in some cases, indefinitely, the charity said.

Home Office statistics show 77,240 Ukranians have arrived in the UK under the government’s scheme.

Although London is still the destination for most placements, additional placements have been made in other major cities like Manchester, where 30 were made this year, and Sheffield, Glasgow and Liverpool.