An investigation has revealed that British men are offering “safe homes” on social media to female refugees fleeing war in their home country in return for sexual favours.
A new plan by the British government requires refugees to connect with their British hosts directly, which has forced thousands of people to resort to unregulated Facebook groups to link up.
As part of the investigation, an undercover reporter posed as a 22-year-old Natalya from Kyiv who was “bombarded with inappropriate and sexually suggestive messages from men seeking relationships” minutes after posting on the largest Facebook group for UK hosts.
One of the male hosts sent a voice message saying: “I am ready to help you, and maybe you can help me also.”
According to the report, British men ask female refugees to share a bed in exchange for their stay and, in some cases, get married for sponsorship into the UK.
Out of the 75 private messages that the reporter received during two days, 41 were from single men who lived alone and made inappropriate proposals.
A 32-year-old woman from Ukraine’s Bakhmut said that she had received suggestive messages from men on Facebook’s Messenger app, offering sponsorship in return for sex.
In protest against the government’s Homes for Ukraine scheme, Refugee charity Refugee Action said that the new measures are not safe enough for the refugees.
“What we have is a government-run scheme that is leaving women at risk of sexual exploitation,” Louise Calvey, the head of services and safeguarding at Refugee Action, said.
“Criminal record checks do not pick up sexual predators who have no criminal record, allowing them to register and pass checks to sponsor a refugee in their home,” Calvey said, stressing that some refugees will face these dangerous situations if the scheme continues.
The UN refugee agency has called on the UK government to stop matching single British men with lone Ukrainian women because of fears of sexual exploitation.
