In the first week of the Homes for Ukraine scheme, the British public showed more generosity towards refugees than the Home Office has shown in the past decade. And while we welcome this scheme, resettlement projects like this can only ever be one small strand of our refugee protection system. 

The Government re-invents the wheel with a new scheme for each crisis; announcing bespoke visa routes as bombs struck Aleppo, as Kabul fell to the Taliban, and as Putin’s forces shell cities across Ukraine. 

But the Homes for Ukraine scheme, like Afghan and Syrian resettlement schemes before it, is not a substitute for a fair, effective asylum system. 

A basic principle of refugee protection is this: a refugee is a refugee because they need protection – no matter how they travel to safety. This rule has existed for over 70 years, since the UK helped create the Refugee Convention in the aftermath of WWII. But under plans set out in the anti-refugee bill, the Government will criminalise, detain and deport people who claim asylum in the UK.  

The Borders Bill is making its way through Parliament now. The House of Lords rejected some of the worst elements, rejecting Government plans to set up offshore detention camps and send asylum seekers to prison for up to four years for simply arriving in the UK, and more. But on 22 March, MPs are likely to add these inhumane policies back into the Bill. 

It's not too late to tweet your MP or write to them, asking them to stand against this Bill. Go to writetothem.com for contact details, and let them know you want them to stand with refugees.

And you can find out more about the Homes for Ukraine scheme and how to get involved on the government website or through Refugees at Home.