Ukrainian families vent frustration at struggle to find own homes in UK
-High-cost, low-quality housing market is pushing many from war-torn country to edge of homelessness

乌克兰家庭对在英国找房子的困难表达强烈不满
——高成本、低质量的住房市场将许多饱受战争蹂躏国家的移民推向无家可归的边缘


(‘I can’t find accommodation because many places are too expensive.’ Oksana and her son at an event for Ukrainians in south London.)

(“我找不到住处,因为很多地方都太贵了。”奥克萨娜和她的儿子在伦敦南部为乌克兰人举办的活动上。)
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Maria, 22, came to the UK from Ukraine in March last year shortly after the war broke out. She and her mother travelled using the Ukraine family scheme visa to stay with her aunt. But when her aunt was evicted, they became homeless. For five months, Maria and her mother have been living in temporary accommodation in south London.

玛利亚今年22岁,去年3月战争爆发后不久,她从乌克兰来到英国。她和她的母亲使用乌克兰家庭计划签证前往她的姑姑家。但当她的姑姑被驱逐后,他们无家可归了。5个月来,玛丽亚和她的母亲一直住在伦敦南部的临时住所。

“It’s horrible actually, the corridors are so old and so dirty,” Maria says. “The council haven’t been very helpful. The room is so small and it’s hard with two adults in one room.”

玛丽亚说:“实际上这太可怕了,走廊又旧又脏。委员会一直没帮上什么忙。房间太小了,两个成年人住在一个房间里很困难。”

Maria is hoping to find private accommodation, but it is unaffordable when living on universal credit. “You have to pay a deposit, and have a lot of savings but we don’t have that right now,” Maria adds.

玛丽亚希望找到一个私人住所,但如果靠通用信贷生活,这是负担不起的。“你必须付定金,有很多存款,但我们现在没有,”玛丽亚补充道。

The position Maria finds herself in is one shared by many of the more than 150,000 Ukrainians who came to the UK under the sponsorship scheme or to stay with relatives. In August, it was reported that more than 50,000 Ukrainian refugees in the UK could be made homeless in 2023 as initial six-month placements with hosts end without further accommodation in place.

玛丽亚发现自己的处境和15万多根据赞助计划来到英国或与亲戚住在一起的乌克兰人一样。今年8月,据报道,2023年,超过5万名在英国的乌克兰难民可能会无家可归,因为最初六个月的安置结束后,没有进一步的住宿安排。

Anastasia Salnikova is the founder of the community interest group J&C Soul CIC, and has been supporting Ukrainian refugees as their sponsorship schemes come to an end. Difficulties in finding accommodation has been a recurring theme for Salnikova.

安娜斯塔西娅·萨尔尼科娃是社区利益组织J&C Soul CIC的创始人,在乌克兰难民的赞助计划即将结束之际,她一直在支持他们。对萨尔尼科娃来说,寻找住处的困难一直是一个反复出现的主题。

“The problems people are facing are that some are becoming homeless when the sponsorship agreement comes to an end,” Salnikova says. “People are finding it so difficult to find private accommodation too. There are lots of single parents, or people on universal credit, and even those who have full-time jobs are struggling to find accommodation. So what is going to happen is that we are going to have lots more people facing homelessness as the scheme ends”.

萨尔尼科娃说:“人们面临的问题是,当赞助协议到期时,一些人会无家可归。人们也发现很难找到私人住所。这里有很多单亲父母,或者依赖通用福利金的人,甚至那些有全职工作的人也在努力寻找住处。因此,随着该计划的结束,我们将有更多的人面临无家可归的问题。”

Despite having a relatively well-paying, full-time job as a chef, Oksana, who’s a single parent to her 12-year-old son, is struggling to find a place to live once the sponsorship scheme comes to an end. Since December, Oksana has enquired after at least seven properties but hasn’t been successful in finding somewhere for herself and her son to live.

尽管奥克萨娜有一份收入相对较高的全职厨师工作,但她是12岁儿子的单亲母亲,一旦赞助计划结束,她就很难找到住的地方。自去年12月以来,奥克萨娜已经询问了至少七处房产,但都没有成功为自己和儿子找到居住的地方。

“The scheme is coming to an end and I’m trying to find private accommodation, but even though I’m earning good money and have a good job in central London, I can’t find accommodation because many places are too expensive or need a guarantor, which I don’t have.”

“这个计划即将结束,我正在努力寻找私人住所,但即使我收入不错,在伦敦市中心有一份好工作,我也找不到住处,因为许多地方太贵了,或者需要担保人,而我没有。”
原创翻译:龙腾网 http://www.ltaaa.cn 转载请注明出处


“My sponsor is well-connected, and has been helping me to find somewhere too. But even with all the connections we have, and having a good job, it’s still a challenge,” Oksana says. “And so for the people without, it’s even harder”.

“我的赞助者人脉很广,也一直在帮我找地方。但即使我们拥有所有的关系,并且有一份好工作,这仍然是一个挑战,”奥克萨娜说。“所以对于那些没有的人来说,情况就更难了。”

Natalia Platonova and her partner, Andreyy Palatov, feel as if they’re in limbo. Their current sponsorship is due to end in the next few months, and although there is the possibility that it may be extended, this hasn’t been confirmed.

娜塔莉亚·普拉托诺娃和她的爱人安德烈·帕拉托夫感觉他们就像在地狱的边缘。他们目前的赞助将在未来几个月结束,尽管有可能会延长,但这还没有得到证实。

They are from Mariupol, which has been completely destroyed by bombing, so it is not an option for them to return. They want to build a life here.

他们来自马里乌波尔,马里乌波尔已经被轰炸完全摧毁,所以他们不可能返回。他们想在这里生活。

“On one hand, we’re extremely grateful that we’re here and that we were able to escape and survive, our sponsors have been wonderful,” the couple say, through an interpreter.

这对夫妇通过翻译说:“一方面,我们非常感激我们能在这里,能够逃脱并幸存下来,我们的赞助者非常棒。”

“No matter how wonderful our sponsors are, we want to be independent but we don’t speak English and we’re middle-aged. It’s frustrating because we don’t see the prospect of having our own private accommodation, not because we don’t want to but because we don’t speak English it’s more difficult to find a job or a landlord who would rent to us,” they add.

“不管我们的赞助者有多棒,我们都想独立,但我们不会说英语,而且我们已经是中年人了。这令人沮丧,因为我们看不到拥有自己私人住所的前景,不是因为我们不想,而是因为我们不会说英语,所以更难找到工作,也更难找到愿意租给我们的房东,”他们补充道。

A spokesperson for the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities said: “Homes for Ukraine has seen 112,000 Ukrainians welcomed to the UK, thanks to the generosity of sponsors.

英国住房和社区发展部的一位发言人说:“由于赞助者的慷慨,‘乌克兰之家’项目已经欢迎11.2万名乌克兰人来到英国。

“We’ve provided councils with extensive funding including an addition £150m to support Ukrainian guests move into their own homes, as well as £500m to acquire housing for those fleeing conflict.

“我们已经为议会提供了大量资金,包括额外的1.5亿英镑,用于支持乌克兰客人搬进自己的家,以及5亿英镑,用于为逃离冲突的人购置住房。”

“All Ukrainian arrivals can work or study and access benefits from day one and we have increased ‘thank you’ payments for sponsors to £500 a month once a guest has been here for a year.”

“所有来到这里的乌克兰人都可以工作或学习,从第一天起就可以享受福利,一旦客人在这里住满一年,我们就会把赞助人的‘感谢金’提高到每月500英镑。”