France’s interior minister has accused the British government of showing a “lack of humanity” when it comes to helping the Ukrainian refugees who have fled the Russian invasion and are now waiting in Calais for permission to join their families in the UK, reports The Guardian.
According to the French interior minister, Gérald Darmanin, 400 Ukrainian refugees have presented themselves at Calais border crossings in recent days – only for 150 of them to be told to go away and obtain visas at UK consulates in Paris or Brussels.
In a letter to the UK home secretary, Priti Patel, Darmanin called on the British government to set up a proper consular service in Calais, adding that its response so far was “completely unsuitable” and showed a “lack of humanity” towards refugees who were often “in distress”.
In the letter, seen by the Agence France-Presse news agency, Darmanin wrote: “It is imperative that your consular representation – exceptionally and for the duration of this crisis – is able to issue visas for family reunification on the spot in Calais.”
However, Patel insisted people were not being turned back. The home secretary said: “Let me just correct what has been said by the French government. The British government is not turning anybody around or turning anybody back at all.”
Patel said the UK was “doing everything possible” to speed up efforts to grant visas to Ukrainian refugees as it was revealed that only about 50 had been granted under the Ukraine family scheme by 10am on Sunday. A total of 5,535 online applications had been completed and submitted online and 2,368 people had booked a visa appointment to submit their application and biometric information, the government said. The Home Office said another 11,750 people had started but not completed an online application.
Asked if it was acceptable that only 1% of submitted applications had been granted in the first 48 hours of the visa scheme, Patel said: “Let’s be clear, this is the first scheme in the world that’s up and running in this short period of time.”
She added: “I have staff in Calais to provide support to Ukrainian families that have left Ukraine to come to the United Kingdom. It is wrong and it is inaccurate to say that we are not providing support on the ground. We are.”
Although an extended visa scheme to allow more people from Ukraine to join relatives in the UK has been launched by the government, plans for a humanitarian refugee scheme to help those without family ties in Britain have yet to be announced.