Refugee hosting scheme should be taken up across the country, says pioneering charity
The UK government should reconsider its decision not to accept the public's offer of space in their homes for people fleeing Syria, a Scottish charity has said.
Ministers said they won’t consider rolling out a refugee hosting scheme – even though it has been proven to work in the past.
The UK has said it will take in 20,000 refugees by 2020 – prompting warnings the country is not prepared for the scale of resettlement.
This week, home affairs committee chairman Keith Vaz MP urged the government to re-think its rejection of refugee hosting, saying: "The generosity of the British public in offers of assistance and even space in their homes has not been accepted by ministers. This should be reconsidered.”
This was backed by the Glasgow-based Positive Action In Housing charity, which pioneered refugee hosting schemes in 2004.
If a small charity can offer 2,100 homes through refugee hosting, that shows the capacity of this country to take in refugees
Director Robina Qureshi said: “We have over 2,100 refugee hosts all over Scotland and the UK who have registered their homes, houses, and spare rooms with us to take refugees in for a period of months, years or indefinitely.
“We are actively housing people every day and are offering this scheme as a way of accommodating Syrian and other refugees.
“We are also working with the Scottish housing movement to build its capacity to respond to the Syria crisis. If a small charity based in Glasgow can find 2,100 homes for refugee hosting all over the UK then it shows us that the true capacity of this country to take in refugees right now is much higher than the UK government wants to admit.
“Housing is critical, and if you combine the housing associations and private homes willing to offer spaces, rooms, homes, land and multiple properties to refugees then we have the capacity to assist refugees taking death boats to Europe in order to get here. What we know is that people and housing providers are desperate to assist now."
Richard Harrington MP, minister responsible for Syrian refugees, said the government planned to resettle 1,000 Syrians by Christmas.
He said: "We have already welcomed and successfully resettled a number of vulnerable people who were in desperate need of our help," he said.
"The scale of the expansion needs careful planning to ensure we get it right.
"That is why we are continuing to work closely with the UNHCR, local government associations, NGOs and partner organisations in order to resettle 20,000 people by the end of this Parliament."
