LONDON (CN) — The United Kingdom government has been forced on the defensive this week following public outcry over a slow and inflexible system of taking in Ukrainian refugees. An online application process was announced by the U.K’s interior department, the Home Office, on Thursday, in the hope of simplifying and speeding up the processing of asylum seekers.
Of the more than 2 million people who have fled Ukraine since the outbreak of war just over two weeks ago, the U.K. has so far granted entry to less than 1,000 Ukrainian refugees. This compares to the arrival of over 20,000 Ukrainians in Italy, 80,000 in Germany, and more than 1.5 million in neighboring Poland.
The U.K. is the only European country that has maintained visa restrictions on Ukrainians fleeing war. The government has said it will only grant entry to Ukrainians with specific family connections, or who have been individually sponsored by a British resident or institution, such as a business or local authority.
In contrast, European Union member states have waived all visa restrictions on refugees fleeing Ukraine and allowed them access to housing, employment and social security for a minimum of one year. Many countries have also unilaterally offered refugees free food, travel, accommodation and medical treatment.
In addition, unlike EU countries, the U.K. has insisted that paperwork – including biometric checks – must be conducted before entry into British territory. The result has been a large build up of asylum seekers in the French port of Calais, the closest crossing point from Europe to the U.K. However, those arriving in Calais from Ukraine, regardless of their circumstances, have been redirected to embassies in Paris or Brussels for their visa applications to be processed.
French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said the British response lacked humanity.
“When you've traveled 60 hours with your family, you don't send them back, at least that's what the French government thinks, you don't send them back to Paris or Brussels to get these visas," Darmanin said.
“So we're asking for a consulate in Calais to send English people to do these visas. I have called the British minister twice to do this,” he added.
On Monday, in response to cross-party criticism, U.K. Home Secretary Priti Patel told the House of Commons that “we have set up a bespoke [visa application center] en route to Calais,” but failed to make public the location of the processing center. Patel’s statement was met with ridicule by Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, who told the Commons: “If she cannot tell us where this visa center is … then there is no hope or chance of Ukrainian families being able to find it themselves.”
The introduction of an online application system next week is expected to relieve pressure on British embassies and consulates around Europe, which are struggling to process the volume of visa applications being submitted, resulting in long delays for refugees.
But the new measures will not expand the means of access to U.K. refuge for Ukrainians. Patel had previously suggested that the government was working on a third route for those seeking asylum that would cater to Ukrainians “without ties to the U.K.” However, she was later apparently contradicted by Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who told reporters: “We have two very, very generous routes already – so the family reunion route, which is uncapped, which could potentially see hundreds of thousands of people come to this country, plus the humanitarian route. Under that scheme, people can sponsor people coming from Ukraine.”
The government has yet to announce the full details of the sponsorship scheme.
On Monday, during a session of Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee, the Foreign Secretary Liz Truss was asked why the U.K. – given that it was the first country to receive intelligence that Russia would launch an invasion of Ukraine – was seemingly unprepared for an influx of refugees. Pointing the finger directly at Patel, Truss replied: “It's really a matter for the home secretary exactly how the visa process works.”
