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The APPG for Ending Homelessness - Homelessness amongst Ukrainian refugees

20.02.2023

Today the Co-Chairs of the APPG for Ending Homelessness Bob Blackman MP and Florence Eshalomi MP, along with 72 other parliamentarians, have written to the UK Government urging them to act immediately to support Ukrainian refugees in Britain amongst concerns rise that a growing number are at risk of homelessness due to gaps in support and funding as the cost-of-living crisis continues.

February 2023 marks a year since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which, with over 7 million refugees recorded to date, amounts to the biggest humanitarian crisis Europe has seen since WWII. Last month, the APPG for Ending Homelessness held a meeting to discuss concerns of rising homelessness amongst Ukrainian refugees.

New Government data shows over 4,000 Ukrainian households have received homelessness support from their local authority in the last year, and since June 2022, the number of Ukrainian households receiving homelessness assistance from their local authority has increased more than six times.

At this APPGEH meeting attendees heard from three Ukrainians who have been directly affected by the conflict with Russia, and charity and local authority representatives who have been supporting Ukrainian arrivals to the UK about the challenges they are facing as gaps in support and the cost of living crisis is pushing more people into homelessness. You can read the minutes of the meeting here.

Following the meeting, over 70 MPs and Peers signed an open letter to Minister for Housing and Homelessness Felicity Buchan MP, urging the UK Government to act immediately to support Ukrainian refugees in Britain.  

Bob Blackman MP and Florence Eshalomi MP said "As we approach a year since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, it is unacceptable that thousands of people who arrived in the UK to escape the conflict are now facing homelessness. While the announcement of continued funding under the existing schemes for both sponsors and refugees is welcome, more must be done to prevent increasing numbers of Ukrainian refugees from being forced into homelessness.

“Unfortunately, many of the challenges facing refugees in securing safe housing are not unique to this community but rather indicative of the wider crisis across the country, as more and more people are forced into unstable living situations due to rising costs.

“We are calling upon the UK Government to continue supporting Ukrainian refugees in the UK through the introduction of extended and harmonised financial support, as well as the appointment of a new Minister of State for Refugees, to ensure no one fleeing the war in Ukraine and seeking sanctuary in the UK is left facing homelessness.”

You can read the APPGEH letter signed by 74 parliamentarians to Minister Buchan here.

Matt Downie, Chief Executive at Crisis, who provides the Secretariat for the APPGEH, also wrote to Minister Buchan to share the direct accounts of two Ukrainians who spoke at the APPGEH meeting. You can read this letter here.

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For any further information or questions please get in touch at appg@crisis.org.uk

 

 

 

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