Refugee charity calls on ministers to cut UK’s red tape

A Scottish refugee charity yesterday said needless red tape was still blocking Ukrainian refugees’ arrival in the UK and urged action to ease their route to sanctuary.

The Scottish Refugee Council said the UK Government was wrong to insist people fleeing the warzone must apply for visas in such desperate circumstances.

Gary Christie, the organisation’s head of policy, said: “The fact is there is simply no time to apply for visas when you are fleeing a war zone and this is causing huge distress with people desperately wanting to be reunited with family members.”

The number of visas granted is still small. Out of 66,000 applicants, only 20,100 have been granted, the Home Office said. Under the UK Government’s Homes for Ukraine scheme which opened earlier this month, refugees must find an individual sponsor who can be a relative or volunteer.

However, the Scottish Government acts as a super-sponsor which by-passes the need to find an individual match and there have been about 1,000 applications for its super sponsor scheme.

The Scottish Government said it would sponsor 3,000 people who would then not need to find an individual sponsor.

“The UK Government has put the responsibility on its population and not taken responsibility as a state,” said the Scottish Refugee Council. “It has stepped back completely and left it up to members of the public able to sponsor a Ukrainian seeking refuge.”

The organisation also said Ukrainian seasonal workers have only had their visas extended for a short time. They have not been given longer-term status or access to public funding no matter how much they have contributed to the UK economy.

Tens of thousands of people draped in yellow and blue marched through London yesterday in support of Ukraine. And fears are mounting for children who have fled Ukraine, with many travelling alone after being separated from their families.

On the border in Poland, Maia Mazurkiewicz, from the NGO Alliance4Children Ukraine, said one of the convoys organised by the group was shot at in Lviv on the way to Poland.