Ukraine war: 300 Ukrainians get visas via new scheme, says UK

The number of Ukrainian refugees granted visas under the UK’s new scheme has risen to 300 from around 50 on Sunday, the Home Office said.

It said 17,700 applications to be reunited with family members in the UK had been made and it had increased staff and appointments.

But more than 500 refugees are stuck in Calais, many saying they were turned away for lack of documentation.

People in Calais were told to go to Paris to apply for their visas.

And some Ukrainians told the BBC they had to wait more than a week just for an appointment in the French capital.

More than 1.7 million people have now fled the war in Ukraine – most of them to Poland.

Unlike the European Union, which allows Ukrainians a three-year visa-free stay, the UK has retained entry controls, with Prime Minister Boris Johnson saying it was “reasonable” to have “some basic ways to check who’s entering and.” who is not”.

There are two main routes to a war refugee visa, which require either a UK family or a designated UK sponsor for their application.

After criticism from France that the UK’s approach showed a “lack of humanity”, Home Secretary Priti Patel said she had “augmented a Home Office team” to help in Calais – and denied anyone had been turned back at the border may be.

But the BBC noted that a Home Office presence at a local administration building had disappeared on Monday morning, while a sign on the hostel where many refugees were staying directed them to Brussels or Paris to apply for visas.

The Home Office said in a statement there was no visa application center in Calais and urged people not to travel there.

In its latest progress report on refugee visas, the Interior Ministry reiterated its claim that it was the first visa system introduced in Ukraine since the Russian invasion.

It said staff at appointment centers across Europe – including in Poland, Romania, Hungary, Moldova and the Czech Republic – as well as in the UK, had been “boosted” to process applications as quickly as possible while maintaining “essential security controls”. .

Since the start of Ukraine’s family program on March 4, 8,900 applications have been submitted, while 4,300 applicants have scheduled appointments to have their biometrics submitted.

According to the Ministry of the Interior, 640 applications have been confirmed and 300 visas have been issued so far.

The UK has previously expanded its refugee visa system, expanded the range of family ties that allow Ukrainians to apply and created a second avenue for UK-based organizations to sponsor applications – details to be announced this week .

It also waived fees for Ukrainians.

But when Prime Minister Boris Johnson was questioned on Monday, he didn’t confirm any suggestions that Britain would open up a third option for people with no ties to the UK, only saying it would take “a very generous and open approach”.

Following last year’s response to the Afghan crisis, Amnesty International UK suggested that history is repeating itself.

Director for Refugee and Migrant Rights Steve Valdez-Symonds said the Home Office was “once again being too slow and too bureaucratic in response to a refugee crisis that almost everyone saw coming”.

Labor leader Sir Keir Starmer said the Government should offer people in danger an “easy route to sanctuary” and the Home Office was “in a complete mess”.