British people want to remove obstacles to humane aid for refugees
sir – I have been trying to get a family visa for a Ukrainian family for a week, and the bureaucracy is appalling. The poor conditions under which they are now living are badly affecting the mother and children’s mental health.
To get a visa, they need to find a visa centre (one in Poland, three in Germany and one in some other countries) and book an appointment to attend twice with required documents.
Why can I not vouch for them from Britain and provide their passport details? I would even put up a surety.
The family is stuck in Poland. Without this artificial delay I could fly them to Britain today.
The PM should wake up and let the United Kingdom show its humanity. Dr Phil Cadman
Borth, Cardiganshire
sir – Yesterday happened to be International Women’s Day, and I think most women feel like me and pray that this Government will open the gates and welcome Ukrainian women and children immediately. Deirdre Lay
Cranleigh, Surrey
sir – My father was killed at Monte Cassino in 1943. The Home Office response to the refugee crisis is a disgrace. I am ashamed to be British. Malcolm Bailey
Radlett, Hertfordshire
sir – The Home Secretary could show great leadership by taking a minibus on the Shuttle to Calais today, with several efficient staff, laptops, and the relevant forms for issuing visas to the Ukrainians who have already arrived there and are now stuck.
Humanitarian disasters require ingenuity, lateral thinking, and a sense of purpose, not bureaucracy. Philippa Madgwick
Pibsbury, Somerset sir – The Ukrainian army and the will and resistance of the Ukrainian people are irreplaceable assets in this war to preserve what we hold dear. They are bulwarks against Russian expansion.
If they succumb, millions more Ukrainians will be displaced, and Europe – from the Balkans to the Arctic – will be exposed. The threat of nuclear action will remain open to Vladimir Putin.
The problem is in the skies of Ukraine, from which bombers can deal death and destruction. Here we need to do a lot more very quickly. That nettle needs to be grasped, otherwise we will be faced with a whole bed of similar nettles in the future.
Dr Hilary Parker
Holmfirth, West Yorkshire
sir – Allan Muirhead’s view that Russian oligarchs should be denied access to the law (Letters, March 7) would, if enacted, turn us into the sort of society he rightly deplores. It may be distasteful, but the processes of the law must remain available to all.
Dr Joe Cobbe