A number of concerns have been raised about the pace of the Government’s support programmes for those fleeing Ukraine and seeking refuge in the U.K.
Russia’s appalling assault on Ukraine is an unprovoked, premeditated attack against a sovereign, democratic state and has created one of the largest, most rapid movements of displaced people in recent history.
The Government has put in place significant measures which are already ensuring that Ukrainians with family members in the UK are able to join them.
On Monday of next week, further details of the humanitarian sponsorship visa route will be published, providing a streamlined route to enable Ukrainian refugees without family ties with the UK to be matched with individuals, businesses, community organisations, or Local Authorities willing and able to act as a sponsor. There will be no limit on this scheme, and the UK will welcome as many Ukrainians as wish to come and for whom there are sponsors.
Richard Fuller MP said:
I raised this issue during yesterday’s Urgent Question in the House and urged the Government to bring forward the humanitarian sponsorship route quickly, and I was pleased to see today that more details will be published on Monday - Ukrainian refugees - YouTube
The Ukraine Family Visa Scheme has been open since last week. The scheme has the widest possible scope for immediate and extended family and eligibility is set out here: Apply for a Ukraine Family Scheme visa - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). From Tuesday 15th March, a fully online application process will be available speeding up the application process so that people do not need to travel to the visa processing centres which are already open in Warsaw, Rzeszow, Chișinău, Bucharest, Budapest and Prague. The Home Office is enabling Ukrainians with passports to give their biometrics once in Britain, which will make the process simpler but also mean the Home Office can continue to conduct vital security checks. This will alleviate pressure on Visa Application Centres across Europe and allow these centres to give greater focus to refugees without passports. For those refugees who still wish, or need, to use the visa application centres, the capacity has been increased to 13,000 appointments per week.
A new Refugees Minister has been appointed to coordinate support for those fleeing the conflict in Ukraine.
Ukrainians who are on work, study or visit visas in the UK will have their visas temporarily extended or be able to switch onto different visa routes.
There have been suggestions that the Home Office should waive the usual visa requirement and while the Home Secretary confirmed in Thursday's debate that there would no longer be a need for biometric details to be taken at the time of application, provided that the applicant has a passport, it would not be possible to go further stating in the Commons that: “As I was saying. extremists are on the ground in the region, too. Given that, and also Putin’s willingness to do violence on British soil—and in keeping with our approach, which we have retained consistently throughout all emergency evacuations, including that of Afghanistan—we cannot suspend any security or biometric checks on the people whom we welcome to our country. We have a collective duty to keep the British people safe, and this approach is based on the strongest security advice. These measures have been designed to enable swift implementation—that is the point: swift implementation—without the need for legislation or changes to immigration rules. The Ukrainian people need help immediately, and we are putting it in place now.”
The UK has a proud history of supporting those in need and offering sanctuary, just as we have in recent years in response to the situation in Syria and then last year in Afghanistan the Government will continue to keep all measures under review as it seeks to support people in response to the unprovoked, premeditated attack against a sovereign, democratic state. Since 2015, more than 25,000 vulnerable people, including children, seeking refuge from cruel circumstances across the world have been resettled in the UK – more than any other European country. The government made one of the largest commitments of any country to resettle at-risk Afghan citizens, and that commitment is being delivered. We undertook the biggest and fastest emergency evacuation in recent history, helping over 15,000 people at risk to safety in the UK, including thousands of women and girls. We have also seen the government introduce the Hong Kong BN(O) route, which has been a great success and honours our commitment to those with ties to the UK, and their families. Over 97,000 people have been granted visas through the route so far.
The government has also put in place a package of sanctions which have been introduced against Putin, including the freezing of £258 billion of Russian bank assets by the UK, which is more than the USA and the entire EU as well as sanctioning seven oligarchs worth £15 billion and over 100 companies worth many billions more. In addition, the military support which we are providing is being extended and, of course, the increased humanitarian aid which now stands at almost £400 million. This will provide £220million in aid for basic necessities like medical supplies to support their response, as well as £74 million through the World Bank to support the Ukrainian government directly and a £100 million economic package to support Ukraine financially, including helping them to reduce their reliance on Russian energy supplies.
