The UN Refugee Agency has called on the UK not to allow female Ukrainian refugees to be matched with single British men, expressing fears of sexual exploitation, according to The Guardian citing the UN high commissioner for refugees.
According to the commissioner, the UK could use a "more appropriate matching process” that would make sure women and women with children are sent to families and couples rather than single men. Such concerns follow a slew of claims that the refugee scheme, Homes for Ukraine, has been used by predatory men.
“Matching done without appropriate oversight may lead to increasing the risks women face, in addition to the trauma of displacement, family separation and violence already experienced,” the UN spokesman told The Guardian.
A government spokesman described attempts to "exploit vulnerable people" as "truly despicable" when contacted by the outlet for a comment.
"This is why we have designed our Homes for Ukraine scheme to have specific safeguards in place, including robust security and background checks on all sponsors, both by the Home Office and local authorities," the spokesman continued. "Councils must make at least one in-person visit to a sponsor's property and after the guests' arrival, they have a duty to ensure the refugees are safe and well."
This is not the first time Homes for Ukraine has been criticised for being a potential nesting ground for sexual predators: Louise Calvey, head of the charity Refugee Action, dubbed the scheme "Tinder for sex traffickers".
A letter has been written to Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Michael Gove, by 16 refugee and anti-trafficking organisations, in which these and other concerns regarding Homes for Ukraine were pointed out.
Among other concerns that the programme has prompted is how long a wait Ukrainian refugees have to deal with before arriving in the UK. Home Secretary Priti Patel even had to apologise for the time it took for Ukrainians to arrive in the country. According to The Independent, less than 3 percent of the refugees manage to get into the UK under the sponsorship visa scheme. Out of more than 40,000 applications filed by refugees, only 12,500 have resulted in visas being issued, and only 1,200 refugees have arrived in the UK.