Britain has been accused “lacking humanity”France was criticized for failing to do more to help the Calais Ukrainians reunite with their families in Britain.
It follows 150 Ukrainians being turned away at Calais. They were denied entry to the UK, and told to get their visas at UK consulates in Paris, or Brussels. The Independentreported.
Priti Patel, the home secretary, announced last week that the Ukraine family visa program will allow more than 200,000 Ukrainians to remain in the UK for up three years.
“I have developed the Ukraine family scheme following discussions with the Ukrainian government and neighbouring countries and I am proud to have launched it within a matter of days, enabling Ukrainians with family in the United Kingdom to be welcomed safely, quickly and free of charge,”Patel spoke before she visited.
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She is however being criticized. Gerald Darmanin, the French interior minister, has asked Patel to improve consular representation at the port city. He also didn’t hesitate to express his opinion about his neighbor’s response. “completely unsuitable”And showed a “lack of humanity”To refugees “in distress”AFP, news agency.
“Our coasts have been the scene of too many human tragedies. Let’s not add to that those Ukrainian families,” Darmanin added.
Hundreds of Ukrainians had travelled to Calais after the French government announced last week that Britain would have a temporary visa centre there.
This news comes as BBC Radio 5 covered a story about how a Ukrainian mother and her 8-year-old daughter were denied entry into the UK at Calais even though the mother had been working in the UK and was told to go to Paris to apply for a visa.
Twitter has been flooded with outrage, with many blaming the UK government and claiming that they have not done more to help the Ukrainians.
CountdownSusie Dent of’s took to Twitter after hearing about the struggles of the Ukrainian mother-daughter to be accepted into Britain on BBC Radio 5.
LBC Radio’s James O’Brien described the situation: “the national disgrace of letting base Faragist racism define our asylum policy.”
British solicitor Nazir Afzal questioned “how Boris Johnson, Priti Patel etc can sleep when this is the ONE aspect of the Russian invasion they control.”
Daniel Sohege, Director of Stand for All noted: “It is things like this which are why people have to cross the channel in small boats to seek asylum.”
Yvette Cooper, Labour MP, described the situation as “shocking”And more “Priti Patel needs to get a grip.”
Emma Kennedy, author, said that she “doesn’t want to read a single other thing about the war in Ukraine being ‘the making’ of Boris Johnson”After hearing that 150 Ukrainians were turned away at the border,
Jo Maugham, Director of the Good Law Project, blasted the government and called them “the enemy.” “dishonest and shameful.”
A visa to allow anyone fleeing violence in Ukraine to travel to the UK has also been requested by the Home Office.
UN Refugee Agency head has stated that more than 1.5 Million people fled. UkraineWithin the first 10 days of the invasion, they sought refuge in neighboring countries.
“This is now the fastest growing refugee crisis since World War II. In the coming days millions more lives will be uprooted, unless there is an immediate end to this senseless conflict,”The UN Refugee Agency tweeted.
The Independent is proud to have a long history of fighting for the rights and needs of the most vulnerable. We launched our Refugees Welcome campaign in 2015 during the conflict in Syria. We are calling for the government to do more to help the Ukrainian people as we renew the campaign and launch the petition. For more information about Refugees Welcome, click here Click here. Click here to sign the petition Click here. If you’d like to make a donation, please Click hereFor our GoFundMe page.