COMMUNITY
Red tape deadlock forces family to quit as refugee hosts of passports, driving licences, A Mull couple offering to share their idyllic six-bedroom utility bills, wage slips and bank statements for each home with Ukrainian refumember of our family. gees claim they have been ‘My wife and I do not own deemed unsuitable as hosts passports or driving licences, because they do not have passports or driving licences. we conduct all of our business online, do not receive or Dr David Fuller, whose retain any relevant documenKilliechronan home has two tation. acres of gardens next to a ‘We are thus deemed sea loch overlooking moununsuitable to provide bed and tains, said his family signed up for the government spon- board for some homeless, traumatised sorship scheme individuals. the day after it People are ‘This bureauwas launched quitting. It’s as if cratic impasse in March but have now been the government has resulted in us having no alforced to withscheme was ternative but to draw because designed to fail withdraw from of a bureaucratthe scheme and ic deadlock. thus deny accommodation to ‘Apart from two or three a homeless family,’ he said. emails from the Home Office Dr Fuller said it made him of a generally informative nature, we had heard nothing question whether the relevant specific until recently,’ said Dr government agencies were serious about accepting Fuller. refugees. ‘Then an email question‘Had we known a family in naire, now from Argyll and the Ukraine we could have Bute Council, asked us for general information about our paid their fare to the UK, house, what accommodation given them use of a six-bedroom house with two acres it offered, who lived here, of gardens, 200m from the what access we had to local shore of a sea loch and overtransport and the like. looking the mountains, and ‘This was followed by an let them stay on, for as long officious demand for copies
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as proved necessary. ‘What has gone wrong? We even had a Ukrainian flag ready to welcome them,’ he said. A spokesperson for Argyll and Bute Council said it was aware of concerns raised by the Mull family but Scottish government guidance stated that Enhanced Disclosure checks must be carried out on anyone wishing to participate in the sponsorship scheme. ‘We are aware of the concerns raised by the family and we have provided them with additional guidance and support, including details of identification documents that can be used for Enhanced Disclosure checks. ‘We are sorry that they felt the need to withdraw their application, but the safeguarding of refugees is of paramount importance to Argyll and Bute Council and is not something we would overlook,’ said the council spokesperson. Dr Fuller said no additional guidance and support had been given. The council was asked if it had matched or placed any Ukrainians yet in the Oban,
| SUMMER 2022
Mull & Iona Life issue 46.indd 20
17/06/2022 14:52:11
