After running out of accommodation suitable for the Scottish government, they have stopped issuing visas.
The government said Monday that Scotland would cease issuing visas for Ukrainians as part of its super-sponsorship programme. After Wales suspended its refugee assistance program last month, demand for aid soared.
The UK issued visas in March to Ukrainians fleeing Russian forces. These people needed sponsors that could provide them with accommodation and vouch for their safety for at least six month. Scotland and Wales launched their super-sponsorship programs, offering homes that didn’t require recipients to be matched with private hosts.
Under the agreement, Scotland currently provides sanctuary for more than 7,000 people who have been displaced. It is twice as many people than the 3,000 the government promised it would accept at the launch of the program back in March.
The 20% increase in application has forced Scotland’s program to be halted, Neil Gray, the Scottish minister who is responsible for Ukrainian refugees said.
“With a recent decrease in people applying for private sponsorship in England, and Wales having paused their own scheme, the number of applications naming the Scottish Government as sponsor has increased considerably in recent weeks,”He said.
Wales’ super sponsoring variant was suspended on June 10th, after it issued over 2000 visas.
Gray explained that the Scottish scheme will be on pause for 3 months. It can then be reviewed.
A total of 21256 Ukrainian visas have been granted with the help of a Scottish sponsor. The highest per capita rate was observed by local authorities and it represented 20% of total UK visas.
The Scottish government has announced several steps to accommodate Ukrainians who have been granted visas. These include renting a cruise vessel, renovating North Lanarkshire council buildings, and increasing staff to handle the influx of people.
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