I read that thousands of Ukrainians have already become homeless and ended up on the streets with the British, just because their supporters backed out. And I imagine what would happen if this happened in Hungary.
According to the latest government figures, 2,985 Ukrainians have already become homeless in the UK.
"We are deeply concerned about the growing number of Ukrainians reporting to their [local government] councils as homeless, and in particular the number coming through the Homes for Ukraine program is increasing significantly"
James Jamieson, president of the Local Government Association, told TIME.
And in the coming months, it is feared that thousands more will be left without a roof.
The UK has given shelter to just over 107,000 Ukrainians since March 2022, when the Homes for Ukraine program was launched, allowing Ukrainians to travel and work in the UK, on one condition:
if they had a sponsor who provided their accommodation for at least six months.
With this program, the British government - practically pushing the solution onto its own population - responded to the increasingly loud demand to help war refugees. As if he had just said cynically:
fine, if you want to help them so much, then help them - welcome them into your homes.
The grassroots initiatives started and the Facebook groups - Rooms for Ukraine, Homes for Ukraine, Sunflower Sisters - were formed, which connected the refugees with their future hosts and sponsors.
"However, living with strangers is not always easy (what a surprise! - ed.) , so some sponsors are not willing to take care of the guests after the end of the six months, but in some cases they are asked to leave before that"
- writes the Guardian.
According to the latest UK Office for National Statistics survey, published in August, a quarter of caterers do not plan to continue catering beyond the initial six-month commitment, with a further 15 per cent saying they don't know what they plan to do after six months .
The next wave of homeless Ukrainians may peak at the end of the year, when the sponsorship of 14,000 of them ends in war-torn Britain.
After rents and the general cost of living skyrocketed in recent months, the refugees cannot meet the expectations of the main tenants: such as six months' rent paid in advance, a good credit score, or a guarantor. Almost half of the Ukrainians recently surveyed by the National Statistics Office said they encountered similar obstacles when renting an apartment.
Community groups have warned Ukrainian refugees are getting kicked out of sponsor family homes (Getty Images/iStockphoto)
Thus, the accommodation of the homeless, including refugees, falls on local governments; some of them provide additional financial support on top of the monthly allowance, others plan to use government subsidies for social housing, and still others are looking for new tenants. But as the situation in Ukraine continues to deteriorate, few refugees decide to go home for the winter, while more and more leave the country, so the outlook is not encouraging to say the least.
And then imagine if all this had happened in Hungary!
BBC: Orbán's pro-Russian policy makes Ukrainian refugees homeless
Politico: Hungary sends even the victims of the war to the ground
New York Times: Putin's corrupt basement pushes Ukrainian orphans onto the streets
Le Figaro: Orbán once again spit in the face of the rule of law - Ukrainians in the Budapest subways
Berliner Zeitung: Orbán disregards the right to housing of the Ukrainian minority in Hungary
444: The Ukrainian ambassador in Budapest entered the DK and demanded the resignation of the government
HVG: Tens of thousands of Ukrainian refugees froze to death in Budapest, yet hundreds of thousands more are arriving
Telex: Orbán still won't give an interview or say why he drank the blood of the Ukrainian hero who overthrew Turul
As a result of the media news, civil organizations are of course not idle either, Helsinki and TASZ jointly denounce the Hungarian government in Strasbourg.
Mayor Karácsony makes an interurban call to Kyiv, and in a message in excellent English, he apologizes to Klitschko for the existence of Hungarians, and also promises that as soon as he comes to power, Ukrainian will be the state language in Hungary as well.
Shall I continue?
Featured image: Demonstrators gather in support of Ukraine in London's Trafalgar Square © Vuk Valcic/Shutterstock
