Social work response to the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine | BASW Update (July 2023)
Background
The invasion of Ukraine in February required social work in the UK to respond to a unique set of circumstances for Ukrainians that arose from UK and European Union policy, and to try to avoid privileging work on Ukraine in comparison with other humanitarian situations.
BASW has a Leadership Group that meets monthly to consider: the social work response in the UK; support for the social work response in Europe and; implications for the social work response to migration in the UK and globally. BASW is also the UK delegate to the International Federation of Social Workers (IFSW). In May 2023, IFSW Europe held their delegate meeting and conference.
Update on BASW’s work in the UK
BASW continues to update the webpage that links to useful resources and actions. BASW has issued guidance on UK Social Work & the War in Ukraine.
BASW England and the Special Interest Group on social work’s role in disasters are planning a half-day conference on the afternoon of Thursday 16 November. The online event will share learning about the response to war in Ukraine alongside the response to other shocks arising from global changes and disasters.
BASW is involved in a wide range of campaigning that directly links to the needs and experiences of Ukrainian refugees. In particular, you can get involved in our Anti-Poverty campaign- Social Work Stands Against Poverty.
We recently received a response from the Minister for Housing and Homelessness, Felicity Buchan MP to our letter highlighting ongoing support needs for those arriving through the Homes for Ukraine scheme. The letter thanked BASW for the support shown to Ukrainian people and can be read here. The group will continue to look at outstanding issues to pick up with the UK Government.
BASW is also actively campaigning for compassionate, safe routes for migrants, refugees and asylum seekers from all places, and the support they need on arrival. We have been firm in our opposition to the recently passed Illegal Migration Act and have worked with coalitions of organisations to challenge this legislation. BASW will shortly publish a detailed briefing and response on the Illegal Migration Act and what it means for social workers.
Update on the response in Europe
BASW provided £10,000 from its International Development Fund to IFSW’s fund. This provides resources to go directly to social workers in Ukraine and to support activities at the borders. All this work is being done in co-production with Ukrainian social workers.
IFSW has set up a Community Social Work Centre in Kamianets-Podilskyi’ region. The population in the area has increased from 180,000 to 250,000 because of displaced people. Over the period of its work the Community Centre has organised 174 events, with 1228 participants (709 children and 519 adults). The Centre provides activities and acts as a hub. People from the area take and lead courses and workshops that strengthen resilience and community relationships. These include first aid, psychological support training, legal advice and language lessons. Volunteers receive vouchers that they can then use for products in the social supermarket. This makes for reciprocity rather than aid. Other cities are now adopting this model.
IFSW Europe is also providing funding for a project - Social Partnership Investment - through donations with the goal of establishing and maintaining a network of volunteers to assist in community support and the advancement of social services in Ukraine.
IFSW is managing a project funded by an Austrian charity Volkshilfe Austria - Improvement of shelter conditions for internally displaced people - to repair houses that have been damaged in the war. IFSW is supporting a project funded by the Romanian association and development partner called Project: Prevent, protect and provide for children in Ukraine and the future they dream of. This aims to strengthen child protection systems for children on the move in the Kamianets-Podilskyi district in Ukraine – by establishing emergency support services and strengthening the existing network of social services. The last project is again financed by the Romanian association and aims to train a cohort of 25 social workers and social work students in the development and implementation of social services. IFSW Europe member organisations will provide expertise and knowledge to co-develop innovative social services to meet the needs of the community.
BASW will be providing funding to IFSW to write-up learning from the response so that this can be shared globally.
Learning from the IFSW Europe Conference
The Conference’s overall theme was “Social Justice and Climate Justice” (to respond to the inequity of environmental impacts) in Europe, including Europe’s response to refugees, asylum seekers and migrants.
The most important theme was the discrepancy between the European response to people fleeing Ukraine and the response to people from other places. There is a lot of good practice in relation to Ukraine - particularly setting up safe routes and legal status, providing access to housing, income and employment, and welcoming to the community – that ought to be built into the response to all. There is a further issue that responding positively to Ukraine has drawn resources away from other places and people, who need support.
One particular talk highlighted the difference for Syrian, Afghan and Ukrainian refugees in Germany. As well as issues with access to public services and legal status, there are also discrepancies in the level of language awareness, family networks and ease of integration.
There was discussion about the social work response to migration, both as a first responder and as a longer-term service. Social work tasks include: direct help and advice; support for self-organisation and network building; volunteer management; therapeutic and specialist support; and setting and advancing political agendas. (BASW’s work on Social Work in Disasters is highly relevant).
Next steps for this group
At the moment, 281 million people live outside their country of birth. Nearly 90 million were forcibly displaced at the end of 2020. More than half of refugees are under 18 years old. And the hosting of refugees in different countries is extremely uneven, for example Uganda hosts 1.4 million in a population of 47 million and the UK hosts 230,000 in a population of 69 million.
This group will focus on enabling learning from the response to Ukrainian refugees and social work in Ukraine to be shared. And we will work with other parts of BASW UK - particularly International Committee and Policy Ethics and Human Rights Committee - to campaign for a dignified, human rights approach to all those seeking a better life in Europe and the UK.