Charities demand UK drop ‘maze of red tape’ for visas
FIVE major UK charities are demanding the Government drops visa requirements for Ukrainian refugees with immediate effect.
The organisations, including the Red Cross and Save the Children, condemn the application process as a “complex web” causing “great distress” to refugees and frustration to tens of thousands of hosts.
The Homes for Ukraine scheme expects those fleeing the war to find themselves a UK sponsor willing to house them before they can apply for a visa – unless they have relatives here and can use the family visa route.
Desperate hopefuls must travel to a Visa Application Centre (VAC) to fill a detailed form. It is a 90-minute drive in Poland from the refugee reception centre to the British VAC and there is no public transport available.
Enver Solomon, chief executive of the Refugee Council who helped draft the charities’ open letter to the Government, said: “We are increasingly concerned. People are having to struggle against a maze of red tape to try to get visas.
Checks
“This is a humanitarian crisis and as a response you need something frictionless and simple. The current arrangement is too complicated.
“What we need is a simplified process with a straightforward application for a humanitarian visa.
“You could upload a copy of Ukrainian internal ID card or passport and then more fulsome security checks could be done on arrival in the UK. That was what happened when we evacuated thousands from Kabul last summer and it could easily be done again.”
Mr Solomon accepted there were security concerns.
The full text of the letter published in today’s Times newspaper reads: “A month after the conflict in Ukraine began, millions of mainly women and children have fled violence in desperate search of safety. Yet those who want to come to the UK are having to navigate a complex web of bureaucratic paperwork to get visas leaving them facing protracted delays without any information about the status of their application.
“While it is welcome that our country is offering sanctuary, the visa process is causing great distress to already traumatised Ukrainians and increasing frustration to tens of thousands of Britons who want to welcome them into their homes. “The Government must urgently review the use of visas and waive them as an immediate short-term measure, as has been done by the EU, and look to introduce a simplified emergency humanitarian visa process.
“It also needs to rethink the Nationality and Borders Bill to ensure all refugees fleeing conflict and persecution can be protected in the UK.
“Now is not the time to put paperwork and bureaucracy before the needs of people who have had their lives shattered by war or to weaken our commitment to refugee protection.”
The letter is signed by Mr Solomon, Mike Adamson from the British Red Cross, Kirsty McNeill from Save the Children UK, Danny Sriskandarajah from Oxfam GB, and Laura Kyrke-Smith from the International Rescue Committee.
It comes as research showed more than half of Britons think the Government should drop visa requirements for Ukrainian refugees. The poll, by Savanta ComRes, found 54 per cent back a no-visa policy, allowing unlimited numbers of Ukrainians to come. This com pares to just 21 per cent who said the requirements should stay.While 53 per cent believe Boris Johnson has a good overall approach to the war, only 42 per cent think so when it comes to refugees.
The Homes for Ukraine scheme allows unlimited refugee places if they can find sponsors in England.
The Welsh and Scottish Governments are acting as “supersponsors” – removing the need for applicants to find their own.
Some 21,000 visas have been issued under the Ukraine family scheme, with 36,300 applications submitted.
The Government said: “We stand shoulder to shoulder with Ukraine and the changes we’ve made to the visa process are making it quicker and simpler for Ukrainians to come here, as well as ensuring those already here can stay.”