Red tape deadlock forces family to quit as refugee hosts

A Mull couple offering to share their idyllic six-bedroom home with Ukrainian refugees claim they have been deemed unsuitable as hosts because they do not have passports or driving licences.

Dr David Fuller, whose Killiechronan home has two acres of gardens next to a sea loch overlooking mountains, said his family signed up for the government sponsorship scheme

the day after it “was launched in March but have now been forced to withdraw because of a bureaucratic deadlock.

‘Apart from two or three emails from the Home Offi ce of a generally informative nature, we had heard nothing specifi c until recently,’ said Dr Fuller.

‘Then an email questionnaire, now from Argyll and Bute Council, asked us for general information about our house, what accommodation it offered, who lived here, what access we had to local transport and the like.

‘This was followed by an offi cious demand for copies of passports, driving licences, utility bills, wage slips and bank statements for each member of our family.

‘My wife and I do not own passports or driving licences, we conduct all of our business online, do not receive or retain any relevant documentation.

‘We are thus deemed unsuitable to provide bed and board for some homeless, traumatised individuals. ‘This bureaucratic impasse has resulted in us having no alternative but to withdraw from the scheme and thus deny accommodation to a homeless family,’ he said.

Dr Fuller said it made him question whether the relevant government agencies were serious about accepting refugees.

‘Had we known a family in the Ukraine we could have paid their fare to the UK, given them use of a six-bedroom house with two acres of gardens, 200m from the shore of a sea loch and overlooking the mountains, and let them stay on, for as long

as proved necessary. ‘What has gone wrong? We even had a Ukrainian fl ag 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 People are scheme. ‘We are aware of the quitting. It’s as if concerns raised by the family the government and we have provided them scheme was with additional guidance and designed to fail support, including details of identifi cation 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,

Oban helps Ukraine founder Shauna MacKenzie setting up the free clothes shop at The Rockfi eld Centre for refugees when they arrive Lorn and Isles area and, if so, how many so far, but those questions were referred to its Freedom of Information team for a response which had not been received at the time of going to press.

Argyll and Bute Council also referred anyone interested to online Scottish government guidance for the sponsorship schemes for Ukrainian refugees to fi nd out what action it (the council) is currently taking in terms of placing Ukrainian refugees in homes across the district and to get an overview of what support would be provided.

Shauna Mckenzie, who set up the Oban Helps Ukraine campaign and appeal, said she knew of other would-be hosts who had quit the government’s sponsor scheme because of frustrations, including continued UK visa delays. ‘The heart and will to help is here but UK visa delays and struggling to get information and straight ‘‘yes’’ or ‘‘no’’ answers to questions from authorities is making it very diffi cult for people. ‘People are quitting. It’s as if the government scheme was designed to fail. ‘We have upwards of 20 Ukrainians in our area who were matched and privately sponsored with more in areas such as Tayvallich, but I know of none yet who have been placed through the government sponsorship scheme. ‘The council only sent out an email questionnaire to potential host families weeks ago asking for more information about them and their home,’ she said. Checks will be carried out on privately-arranged host families but retrospectively, said Shauna. Shauna herself is trying to help seven people who are still waiting for their UK visas so they can come to Oban - but they only had until mid-June before they had to leave Poland. ‘What happens is they have to go to homes elsewhere in other countries if their UK visas don’t come though. ‘We’ve had cases of people here renovating their homes to make sure they are appropriate, for example to be safe for toddlers, then it all falls through because UK visas don’t arrive in time and their Ukrainian families have to go elsewhere,’ she said.