Michael Gove’s new deal for Ukrainian refugees

After last week’s shambles over the handling of Ukrainian refugees, Michael Gove has announced a big shift in UK policy with his version of the so-called ‘Air-Refugee’ schemes that have sprung up on the continent. It’s an Airbnb-style set up where hosts register online saying they’re willing to sponsor guests. Germany’s version (website here) has so far led to 350,000 offers. 

But the UK system is designed with more friction. Hosts will not be paired with refugees but will have to name someone – when they do, both parties will then have to be vetted by the government.  Gove says his version, while uncapped, is likely to lead to ‘tens of thousands’ of offers with hosts and refugees vetted by the government – a far-smaller figure than the 200,000 that the Prime Minister had mentioned. 

There will be taxpayer-funded payments of £350 a month for hosts (similar to Poland’s £210/month offer) making it about 90pc cheaper than the hotel/BnB route the Home Office normally goes down. But while most UK refugees are (controversially) banned from working to support themselves while they wait months for Home Office approval, Ukrainians who enter under Gove’s scheme will be eligible to live and work and in the UK for up to three years.