The problem isn't refugees - it's the barriers placed in front of them

Yuliia Bond

There’s a narrative out there claiming Ukrainian refugees “don’t contribute” to society.

But if you look at the actual data, it becomes obvious that the issue isn’t refugees – it’s the system they’re forced into.

The University of Birmingham’s large-scale survey of displaced Ukrainians in the UK gives us an extremely clear picture of what’s happening. And it’s not that people don’t want to contribute. It’s that the UK’s visa rules, short permits, qualification barriers and employer biases are actively preventing refugees from contributing at the level they are fully capable of.

Most Ukrainians ARE working – but the system pushes them into jobs far below their qualifications.

The research shows that a majority of adult Ukrainians are economically active, which means they are in full-time employment, part-time work, or studying. They are earning wages, paying rent, taxes, utilities, transport, groceries – all the same costs every working person in the UK pays.

This completely dismantles the myth that refugees “don’t contribute.”

They do – and they do so despite enormous barriers.

Short visas are one of the biggest barriers to employment.

What the report makes painfully clear is that the length of the Homes for Ukraine visas is one of the largest obstacles to Ukrainians finding stable, suitable work.

Short visas create systemic uncertainty, and that uncertainty affects:

employers (who hesitate to hire people whose visas end soon),

landlords (who reject tenancy applications),

universities (who cannot guarantee long-term study places), and the refugees themselves (who cannot plan for anything beyond 12-18 months).

One participant in the study simply called it “life on pause.”

And that’s exactly what it is.

Employers often need workers they can invest in for several years – people they can train, promote, upskill.

But when a visa is valid for only a limited time, employers fear “risk,” even if the applicant has the skills and motivation to be an excellent worker.

The result is underemployment: refugees take whatever low-skill job will hire them quickly, because they can’t access the career paths they were originally trained for.

This isn’t lack of willingness.

This is structural exclusion created by visa policy.

Most Ukrainians worked in highly skilled fields before the war but the UK blocks them from using those skills.

Before coming to the UK, many Ukrainians worked in:

Healthcare

Social care

Agriculture

Construction

Professional services

Education

These are precisely the industries where the UK has severe labour shortages.

And yet the data shows:

Only 23% of Ukrainians with healthcare backgrounds can work in UK healthcare.

Only 26% of those from social care can work in social care here.

Large gaps exist across healthcare, construction, and other sectors.

This is a massive waste of human capital – not because refugees lack skill, but because the UK refuses to recognise their qualifications or invest in their retraining.

The report is extremely clear: Ukrainians bring the skills that the UK needs, but visa barriers, recognition problems, and employer bias stop them from contributing fully.

Yes, bias is part of the issue – especially bias against Eastern European migrants.

This is a recurring point in the research:

Immigrants from Eastern Europe are often automatically assumed to be “low-skill”, even when they have degrees, professional training, or years of specialised experience.

Employers often associate “Eastern European” with “cheap labour,” “factory work,” or “manual labour.”

Contrast that with Western European migrants, who do not face the same skill downgrading.

Western migrants are far more likely to be hired into jobs that match their qualification level.

The result?

Two people with identical degrees – one from a Western country, one from an Eastern country – are treated completely differently.

This is bias, plain and simple.

And it leads to systemic underemployment of Ukrainians, who are forced to take jobs that don’t reflect their education or ability.

Over 53% of Ukrainians live in private rented accommodation.

Another strong myth is that refugees are living “for free.”

The data shows the opposite:

53–54% of Ukrainians are renting privately, at full UK market prices.

They pay rent, deposits, council tax, gas/electricity, water, and other bills.

But again, because of short visas, landlords frequently reject applicants even when they have stable income.

This adds to instability and prevents them from becoming secure, long-term contributors to their communities.

Housing instability → employment instability → income instability → inability to plan a future.

It’s a chain reaction caused by policy, not by immigrants.

Short visas harm people’s ability to study, retrain, or invest in their development.

You cannot commit to:

a multi-year university degree,

a higher qualification,

a professional retraining programme,

or a long-term apprenticeship

if your visa is temporary.

Short visas make it impossible to plan a real future.

Sometimes, you can’t even commit to a 12-month vocational course with confidence.

So Ukrainians – even highly educated ones – are being forced into quick, low-skill jobs instead of building long-term careers that would benefit the UK far more.

Imagine a trained Ukrainian nurse who could fill shortages in the NHS, but instead works in a warehouse because training pathways require stability she doesn’t have.

This is the loss of potential the report warns about.

Children are integrated – but instability affects whole families.

The data shows children have integrated extremely well:

They’ve learned English.

Made friends.

Settled into school life.

But uncertainty about visas creates fear and instability for families, making it harder for parents to take education or career steps.

If you don’t know where you’ll live next year, or whether your child will stay in the same school, you can’t make long-term decisions.

Despite trauma, loss and instability – Ukrainians STILL contribute.

The report highlights high levels of trauma:

28% lost a close family member.

38% had homes damaged, destroyed or occupied.

Many experience anxiety, depression, PTSD.

Even with all this, the majority are working, studying, raising children, and rebuilding their lives.

This resilience should be recognised, not dismissed.

The narrative that “refugees don’t contribute” is not just false – it’s actively harmful.

Ukrainians in the UK are contributing, and the only thing limiting their contribution is the system built around them.

Short visas create:

uncertainty,

employer reluctance,

housing discrimination,

inability to study or retrain,

downward pressure into low-skill work,

and long-term instability.

If these barriers were removed, Ukrainians could – and would – contribute at a much higher level, especially given their existing skills in critical UK sectors like healthcare, social care, construction, and education.

The data makes one thing clear:

The problem is not the refugees.

The problem is the barriers placed in front of them.

If we want people to thrive, integrate, and contribute fully, we have to stop holding them back with short visas, qualification obstacles, and bias.

The potential is there – overwhelmingly so. The UK just needs to stop wasting it.

Yuliia Bond is a leading member of the group Caerphilly Ukrainians. She has lived in Caerphilly since 2022 after fleeing from her home town in eastern Ukraine.