Ukraine war one year on: how many Ukrainian refugees are there in and around Birmingham?

An estimated 8 million refugees have left Ukraine since the start of the Russian invasion almost one year ago, and a further 5.9 million people have been displaced within the country.

Data published by the UN Refugee Agency sourced from Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights also shows thousands of civilians have been caught in the crossfire. As of 14 February 2023, a total of 7,199 civilian deaths have been recorded and 11,756 civilian casualties.

Civilian infrastructure has also been brutally targeted, with nearly 800 attacks on healthcare facilities and more than 2,500 on education facilities being reported. The UN reports there are 750 humanitarian organisations present in the war-torn country.

One year into the conflict and with no end in sight, we explain what has happened to the tens of thousands of refugees who now call the UK home.

Homes for Ukraine scheme

The Homes for Ukraine scheme was launched by the government on 14 March 2022. This scheme allows people living in the UK to sponsor a named Ukrainian national or family to come to live in the UK with them, providing they have suitable accommodation to offer.

For the scheme, Birmingham City Council partnered with Refugee Action to provide support to guests and hosts. Figures from the Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme show 945 visas had been granted for refugees to stay with sponsors in Birmingham as of February 14 – 767 of which had arrived in the country.

In Solihull, 275 visas had been granted for refugees to stay with sponsors in the borough as of February 14 – 239 of which had arrived in the country. And in Sandwell, 160 visas had been granted for refugees to stay with sponsors in Birmingham as of February 14 – 109 of which had arrived in the country.

Since 2015, Birmingham has been a City of Sanctuary and has a long history of welcoming asylum seekers, refugees, and migrants fleeing war and persecution to start new lives in the UK.

Birmingham will also welcome 300 Afghan citizens under the government’s resettlement scheme – of which around 150 have already arrived in the city.

City of Sanctuary is a national movement to build a culture of hospitality for people seeking sanctuary in the UK. Its goal is to create a network of towns and cities throughout the UK which are proud to be places of sanctuary for those fleeing war.

How many Ukrainian refugee households were homeless or at risk of homelessness in and around Birmingham?

Despite the initial successes of the Homes for Ukraine Scheme, some accommodation arrangements have broken down or have not been available or suitable, resulting in thousands of Ukrainian refugees becoming homeless.

Figures published by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities show that across England almost 4,300 households, including almost 3,000 with dependent children, were owed a homelessness prevention or relief duty as of 27 January, which come into place when a person is threatened with homelessness or is already homeless.

The duty means a local authority has to help them find accommodation. More than 4,000 Ukrainian refugee households were owed a prevention or relief duty, as of 27 January 2023.

The latest data available for Birmigham (18 November 2022) shows that there are no homeless Ukranian refugees in the city. But the data shows that dozens of Ukrainian refugee households were homeless or at risk of homelessness in Solihull.

Figures from the Home Office show 28 households had received homeless duties in Solihull as of January 27 – including 10 families with dependent children. The figures show 11 of these households in Solihull became homeless after the arrangement with their host broke down, while 15 homes in the borough did so because their accommodation was not suitable on arrival.

The figures also show that 14 Ukrainian refugee households were homeless or at risk of homelessness in Sandwell as of 18 November.

How does this compare across England?

Richmond upon Thames had the greatest number of homeless refugees with 135, followed by Wandsworth with 115 and Buckinghamshire with 102.

Additional data published by the ONS follow-up survey found that almost half (45%) of all respondents surveyed experienced barriers to accessing private rented accommodation. The most common barrier was not having a guarantor or references (59% of those who experience barriers).