Ukraine: The UK-bound refugees stuck at Calais

Almost 300 Ukrainian refugees trying to reach the UK have already been turned back at the French border by British Border Force officers, Calais authorities said. Hundreds more are attempting to complete the paperwork for visas that will allow them to cross the English Channel by tunnel or ferry.

On Monday a family, followed by the BBC, was sent from building to building across Calais in search of promised British support. When they finally found the right spot, the Home Office representative consisted of three men at a table upon a table in a deserted dockside departure lounge, with bags of pre-salted chips and Kit Kats.

The family was advised to make an appointment in Paris, some 200 miles away, for March 15.

After promising that a Home Office Surge Team would be available in Calais to assist people fleeing the war and wanting to come to the UK, the Government is now saying there is no visa application center in the city ( VAC) and refugees should go somewhere else.

Home Secretary Priti Patel said she had decided not to set up a VAC in Calais because refugees could be exploited by criminal gangs of traffickers. The government is concerned about a “pull factor” that encourages desperate people to risk their lives trying to cross the canal in small boats.

There are plans by the Home Office to set up another visa center in France “on the way to Calais”, although it is still unclear exactly where that might be. The rumors are adding to the frustration and despair of those who have left their homes and lives behind, crossed a continent and are now being caught by British bureaucracy.

An Interior Ministry presence at a local administration building disappeared yesterday, with a sign at the hostel instead advising people to go to Brussels, which now has walk-in appointments, or try to get an appointment in Paris.

Veronique Deprez-Boudier, Calais Regional Manager, told us it was important for the UK to build a more organized team to help the people of Calais. “Ideally, they would get their visas here and not have to take the train to get a visa,” she said.

“We stand shoulder to shoulder with the people of Ukraine,” a Home Office spokesman told the BBC. “We have been working closely with Ukrainian partners to ensure our actions respond directly to their needs and aspirations and the Government’s Ukrainian Family Scheme will help tens of thousands of people to join their family members in the UK.”

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 refugee visa, which require either a UK family or a UK sponsor for their application.

The experience of Mischa, his wife and children is typical. A British citizen with a home in north-east London, he drove 2,000 miles to Poland to rescue his Ukrainian wife Maria and two children, 17-year-old Gabrielle and six-year-old Misha Jr. They had walked 45 miles to escape the war and reach the border.

He drove them to Calais, where they have been for six days, after being turned away by border guards at the ferry terminal for not having all the visas.

Mischa, a scaffolder by trade, is now on the verge of despair, his daughter on the verge of tears, as they try to navigate the bureaucracy. Maria has an empty look in her eyes that speaks of a nightmare journey that has no final end yet.

“I feel left out,” Mischa told the BBC. “Who else will help me if not my own government?”

We followed Misha, who was among other desperate refugees – including many children, babies and the elderly, as he returned to the building from an unsuccessful hike, unsure of what to do or where to go. What “shoulder to shoulder” actually meant.

Finally, Mischa spoke to a Border Force officer, who advised him to drive across town to a port building – where he was greeted with chocolate and chips.

“Another week stuck here,” he lamented. “I’ve never claimed a benefit in my life and when I first ask my government for their help, that’s how they treat me. I’m disappointed.”

For the hundreds of refugees in Calais, the gap between the supportive rhetoric of ministers in London and the reality on the ground seems as wide as the English Channel.