Tuesday 03 May 2022
The Committee for Home Affairs and the Policy & Resources Committee have agreed to proceed with the introduction of a Homes for Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme.
The Committees have sought input from other States Committees and Alderney and Sark, and have engaged His Excellency, the Lieutenant-Governor.
As part of this engagement, the Committees have sought to understand the resources available from across all service areas that will likely be needed to support Ukrainian refugees who come to the Bailiwick, and this morning met to consider their responses.
The Committees both remain of the view the Bailiwick has capacity and services to accommodate at least some Ukrainian refugees through the sponsorship scheme in addition to those already in the Islands by way of the Family Visa scheme.
Further work to finalise the criteria for being a sponsor and providing accommodation to a Ukrainian refugee are being finalised, meaning details on how the scheme will operate and how applications can be made will follow next week. Before then, the Committees are not able to comment further on the details of the scheme.
Deputy Rob Prow, President of the Committee for Home Affairs said
"I want to thank colleagues across all States Committees for their input which has helped us make an informed decision about our ability as a government and as a community, to welcome Ukrainian refugees and provide good standards of support for them within the context of our small Islands and limited resources. We are still finalising details but we're very conscious that those limited resources need to be carefully managed and that some of our own most vulnerable Islanders rely on them, and that is being factored into how the scheme will operate."
Deputy Peter Ferbrache, President of the Policy & Resources Committee said
"I'm very pleased that we've been able to make the firm decision that the Homes for Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme will be introduced in the Bailiwick. We will work very quickly on finalising the details, conscious that people have waited long enough for clarity on what will happen and when. There is of course a need for speed in responding to this ongoing humanitarian crisis, but we need to do so in a way that ensures the scheme itself and our local essential services can still deliver, and don't fall over. Taking this additional time to carry out that assessment and liaise with other States Committees was therefore right, but I fully appreciate the desire to move faster."
