The UK government must do more to prevent Ukrainian women and children fleeing the war from being matched with single British men under the country's sponsorship scheme, the United Nations has said. The development comes amid reports that some predatory single men are using the Homes for Ukraine scheme of the UK government to target the vulnerable women.
The UN's refugee agency UNHCR has called for a “more appropriate matching process” for those who want to offer a shelter for the refugees, The Guardian reported.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees wants women and those with children are matched with families of couples.
The visa scheme, which was launched on March 18, allows the British people to host Ukrainians coming to the country with no family links. Such members of the public are paid 350 pounds for hosting the refugees.
So far, more than 200,000 people have registered their interest in hosting Ukrainian refugees.
The UK government-backed matching service is run by the charity Reset. Those who want to move to UK must have a sponsor before applying for a visa.
But the UNHCR has highlighted a need to having adequate safeguard and vetting measures so that exploitation of Ukrainian refugees can be stopped.
Ukrainian women started to advertise themselves on Facebook and other social media platforms in a bid to find a home and that threw up a lot of issues. Many leading UK charities called the approach “a Tinder for people traffickers”, according to The independent.
The UNHCR had earlier issued a statement on the Ukraine crisis where it asked national authorities, law enforcement agencies, NGOs and humanitarian workers for a concerted effort to prevent the abuse of the refugees.
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