Cheshire family urge government to widen 'Homes for Ukraine' scheme to include everyone fleeing

Video report by Tasha Kacheri

A family from Cheshire are urging the Government to let them offer a home to an Afghan refugee fleeing the war in Ukraine.

They want to help 32-year-old English teacher, Yasmin Hashmi, but quickly realised that she did not fit the criteria for the government's 'Homes for Ukraine' scheme even-though she was fleeing the same war.

Yasmin sought refuge in Ukraine in 2012 and worked as an English teacher in the capital of Kyiv, until Russia invaded the country.

She is currently in a temporary refugee camp on the outskirts of Germany, unable to leave as she does not have a Ukrainian passport.

The rules for the current 'Homes for Ukraine' scheme say the UK will offer refuge to Ukrainian nationals, but that means Ukrainian residents without citizenship are being left out in the cold.

Yasmin had to flee Ukraine when the war broke out but is finding it hard to get help because she was not a Ukrainian citizen.

Douglas and his family, who are from Cheshire, met Yasmin on Facebook and offered to help but quickly realised it was not that simple.

The family are unable to sponsor Yasmin because she does not meet the UK's criteria.

Before the Russian invasion, it is estimated there were nearly five thousand refugees and asylum seekers in Ukraine, not all of them had citizenship, now charities fear they will be left behind.

Clare Moseley, Founder of Care4Calais said: "All kinds of things happen to refugees which mean that they loose or don't have their documents and so a scheme that really depends on them having those documents, I can only see causing problems"

Claire's charity says they are already seeing big problems with the scheme.

"There are people who live in Ukraine, Ukraine is their home, they've built their lives there, and they've had to leave because of the war so they've lost everything., she said.

"They've lost their homes, they've had to run for their lives but they don't have Ukrainian nationality and therefore don't come under our scheme that we've set up to help the Ukraine and that means we can't help them, so that's a really big worry."

Douglas and his family have tried their best to get Yasmin support but say there is no government guidance.

For Yasmin she is grateful for Douglas and his family's help but finds it hard to hold out hope, this is the third time she's had to flee her home and look for safety.

Douglas said: "I don't care if she's Afghan or Ukrainian, she's a human being and she deserves our help"

We asked the Department of Levelling Up to respond to this story.