Thread by @samagreene

It is excellent news that the British government has finally resolved to get out of the way and begin to allow the country to provide the support -- including shelter here in the UK -- for Ukrainian refugees that millions of Brits are aching to provide.

However...

https://twitter.com/TomilaLankina/status/1503094226804002824

This isn't done yet. As @sundersays lays out, the gov't still hasn't said exactly how this is going to work, and there's tons of room for this to go wrong.

https://twitter.com/sundersays/status/1502267764718854147

The public will have to keep enormous pressure @ukhomeoffice and @pritipatel if Ukrainians are to avoid the hostile environment that afflicts every other entrant to the UK.

How can you help #ukrainerefugees? Raise your voice. Write to your MP, to the PM and to @pritipatel. More importantly, get together with your neighbours and colleagues. Decide what you can do, and then tell the gov't you want to do it.

There is a role for every corporation, community foundation, religious congregation, school and university to play here -- but it needs to be a proactive role, not a reactive one.

We can no longer wait for the gov't to determine the country's policy towards refugees on behalf of the British people. We have to define our own policy, and drag the gov't along kicking and screaming.

So if you are part of an organisation or institution that can help, tell the gov't that you are ready to help -- and then tell the gov't what it needs to do. Tell them that you need streamlined sponsorship and visa procedures, and facilitated access to schools and social care.

And tell them that the gov't needs to open its own purse. Millions of ordinary households are ready and willing to help, despite skyrocketing costs of living and continuing austerity. But the gov't must not outsource British generosity entirely to the public.

Lastly, remember what we're fighting for here. We're fighting for the dignity and humanity of more than 2 million human beings forced from their homes in one of the largest wars in living memory.

And we're fighting for our own dignity and humanity as a nation unwilling to continue to allow its government to turn our collective back on others. When we win this fight -- and we must -- we will set the standard for British refugee policy for decades to come.

Oh, and one more thing. I write this as an immigrant to the UK, and as a newly minted British citizen. But I am also an American citizen, and it's time for @POTUS and @StateDept to step up, too.