Nearly 45,000 Brits have offered to host a Ukrainian refugee in their homes after a government sponsorship scheme went live yesterday. At one point, the volume of traffic caused the website to crash.
According to The Telegraph:
The surge in interest came as Michael Gove, the Communities Secretary, was accused of presiding over a “DIY asylum” scheme because British families will have to find refugees to take into their homes through their own devices such as social media platforms.
Senior Tory and Labour politicians warned of potential chaos over the need for British families to connect with a Ukrainian refugee, who will then have to fill out a 50-page visa application form outlining their destination in the UK.
Charities said the first wave of the sponsorship scheme to take in Ukrainians with no family links to the UK would favour the more articulate and educated, potentially leaving out more vulnerable refugees.
Labour’s Lisa Nandy, the shadow communities secretary was apoplectic, saying:
“He can’t seriously be asking Ukrainian families who are fleeing Vladimir Putin, who have left their homes with nothing, to get on to Instagram and advertise themselves in the hope a British family might notice them?”
That’s exactly what Gove is asking us to do.
It’s so preposterous it beggars belief. UK families have been invited by the government, to participate in a scheme that has echoes of the dating app Tinder.
I mean, seriously? Gove is asking people to go on social media and browse posts, videos and pictures of Ukrainians fleeing their country, choose one or more and then invite them to come and stay for six months.
They really are laughing their asses off at us, aren’t they?
