The Week Junior - UK (2022-03-19)

2 The Week Junior • 19 March 2022

M

ore than 100,000 people in the UK signed up

to host refugees from Ukraine, in the first two

days after the Government announced a new scheme.

A refugee is someone who has left their home country

because of war or the threat of violence.

What’s the new scheme?

On 14 March, the Government announced the new

scheme, called “Homes for Ukraine”, for people who

are escaping the war. Previously, the Government

was only letting people from Ukraine come to live

in the UK if they had family members here. Under

this new scheme, people from the UK can host

Ukrainian refugees even if they aren’t related.

Anybody who wants to offer a space in their home

to Ukrainian refugees for at least six months can

register their interest online. Within one day of the

scheme launching, 89,000 people had signed up.

The Government will give £350 a month to hosting

families. Refugees from Ukraine will be allowed to

use public services such as the National Health Service

(NHS), and children will be able to attend local schools.

What’s the situation in Ukraine?

On 14 March, civilians (people who aren’t soldiers)

left the city of Mariupol through a humanitarian

corridor. A humanitarian corridor is a safe zone where

both sides agree no fighting will take place for a

certain period of time. This is to create a route and

time for civilians to move to safety. Russian attacks

are continuing in many cities, including the capital

Kyiv. On 13 March, the United Nations (UN),

an organisation of 193 countries working

together, said that 636 civilians had died

so far in the conflict.

Is there any chance

of peace?

At the time The Week Junior

went to press, peace talks

were continuing between

representatives from the

Russian and Ukrainian

governments. Ukrainian president

Volodymyr Zelensky said the talks

were going “pretty well”. A Russian

representative, Leonid Slutsky, also said that progress

had been made and that an agreement might not be

far off. The Ukrainian government wants the fighting

to stop and Russian troops to leave the country.

However, Russia wants some areas of Ukraine – such

as Crimea, Donetsk and Luhansk – to be recognised

as parts of Russia or to become independent states.

What’s happened with Roman Abramovich?

On 10 March, the UK imposed sanctions on seven

men including Roman Abramovich. Sanctions are

financial and political punishments against a

country and individuals. Abramovich is one

of the richest people in the world and

he owns Chelsea Football Club in

London. The UK Government said

Abramovich had been sanctioned

because of his close relationship

with the Russian president

Vladimir Putin. As a result, all

Abramovich’s assets (the things

he owns) in the UK were “frozen”

(he can’t access them). This means

that Chelsea can’t buy or sell players or

sell tickets and merchandise. The club has

been allowed to play football matches and pay its

staff. Permission could be granted for the club to be

sold to someone else, however Abramovich would

not be allowed to get any money from the sale.

UK launches Ukraine refugee scheme

The Welsh youth organisation

Urdd Gobaith Cymru has been

praised for its work supporting

refugees from Afghanistan.

Many people left Afghanistan

when the Taliban took over the

country in 2021. The Taliban,

which is a military and political

group, previously ruled

Afghanistan from 1996 until

2001, and had very strict rules

and punishments, especially for

women. Urdd Gobaith Cymru

has offered accommodation

to 20 families (113 refugees)

from Afghanistan at its

residential centre in Cardiff. It

is now looking for ways to help

refugees from Ukraine.

Ukrainian families will be able Supporting refugees

to stay with people in the UK.

Roman

Abramovich

This week’s big news

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