Homes for Ukraine: Don't match female refugees with single men, UN says

Ukrainian refugees fleeing the Russian invasion arrive at Przemysl Glowny train station, in Poland,

The UN's refugee agency has urged the UK government to ensure that Ukrainian women and children are not matched with single men as hosts.

There are concerns that refugees are at risk and could be exploited if matched with an unsuitable host via the Homes for Ukraine sponsorship scheme.

The UNHCR has called for "a more appropriate process" when matching sponsors and refugees.

The government said there were "robust security and background checks".

The Homes for Ukraine scheme opened on 18 March but has been criticised for being overly bureaucratic and slow to grant visas.

Anyone in the UK can apply to become a host on the scheme, as long as they are able to offer accommodation to a refugee for at least six months.

However, the government does not match hosts with refugees and reports suggest some people could be using social media to find vulnerable women and children fleeing the war.

• How does the Home for Ukraine scheme work?

A spokesman for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said it would be "more appropriate" to match women and women with children with families or couples than with single men.

"Matching done without the appropriate oversight may lead to increasing the risks women may face, in addition to the trauma of displacement, family separation and violence already experienced," he added.

The warning follows an investigation by the Times that resulted in an undercover journalist posing as a young Ukrainian woman being inundated with inappropriate messages from single men.

And Louise Calvey, the head of safeguarding at Refugee Action has previously told the Observer the scheme was at risk of becoming a "Tinder for sex traffickers".

Members of some Facebook groups have also expressed concerns over exploitation when young Ukrainian women have posted looking for accommodation.

A spokesperson for the government said that "Attempts to exploit vulnerable people are truly despicable - this is why we have designed the Homes for Ukraine scheme to have specific safeguards in place."

They said these included "robust security and background checks" on all sponsors, by the Home Office and local authorities.

"Councils must make at least one in-person visit to a sponsor's property and they have a duty to make sure the guest is safe and well once they've arrived," the spokesperson added.

Home Office figures published on Friday showed only 12,500 visas had been granted under the Homes for Ukraine scheme, and only 1,200 refugees had arrived in the UK under it.

In total the government had granted 41,000 visas to Ukrainians fleeing the war.

Home Secretary Priti Patel apologised for the "frustrating" delays but said new visa schemes took time to set up.