UK to mobilise visa officers to France after criticism over Ukraine refugees

Britain says it is sending visa officers to the French port of Calais to help expedite the processing of Ukrainians fleeing Russia's invasion, after the UK's response to the impending refugee crisis was slammed as a "disgrace".

Refugees, mostly women with children, arrive at the border crossing in Medyka, Poland on Sunday, March 6, 2022. AP - Visar Kryeziu

Amid accusations of cynicism in the face of the human tragedy unfolding in eastern Europe, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced an extra €210 million in funding for Ukraine's government, taking its total aid to over €480 million.

Speaking on Monday after talks with Dutch and Canadian prime ministers, Johnson said: "We are absolutely determined to be as generous as we possibly can and as I speak to you all we are processing thousands of applications."

"We are putting people out in all the surrounding countries - into Poland, Bulgaria, Romania, as well as into Calais, France - to make sure we receive people and help people to come," he added.

Meanwhile, UK Home Secretary Priti Patel said the British government was creating a bespoke "visa application centre" in Calais, but away from its main port to avoid a "choke point" after years of cross-Channel migrant passages that have been the source of major diplomatic disputes between Paris and London.

Le Royaume-Uni doit évidemment prendre sa part et permettre aux Ukrainiens qui fuient la guerre de rejoindre leur famille outre-Manche.
Nous souhaitons que le Royaume-Uni, à titre exceptionnel, soit en mesure d’émettre des visas pour regroupement familial directement à #Calais. pic.twitter.com/za1iMJS4P5

— Gérald DARMANIN (@GDarmanin) March 7, 2022

On Saturday, France's Interior Minister Gerard Darmanin accused Britain of a "lack of humanity" after saying that 150 Ukrainian refugees were turned back at the Channel port, and instructed to file applications at UK embassies in Paris or Brussels.

Britain's opposition Labour party said there was still no sign of the promised visa application centres in Calais, and noted that Home Office figures showed only 50 Ukrainian refugees had been allowed in to Britain so far.

One MP within Johnson's Conservative party described the situation as "a disgrace."

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Overcoming bureaucratic red tape 

It has not gone unnoticed in British political circles that Priti Patel's own family background goes back to the era of mass expulsion of ethnic-Indians who were thrown out of Uganda by dictator Idi Amin, and taken in by Britain.

The home secretary's parents emigrated to Britain from Uganda in the years before the mass expulsion.

However, both Patel and Johnson say Britain can't lift all security procedures of incoming Ukrainians, after expressing concern that undercover Russian agents could infiltrate their numbers.

The UK government has created two pathways for Ukrainians - family reunions with relatives already in Britain, and a new "sponsorship" scheme for organisations and individuals to bring in others.

According to Patel's Home Office, a total of 17,700 applications have been submitted so far under the family scheme.

Some 8,900 applications have reportedly been submitted since last Friday, nearly half of them at visa centres in Poland and across eastern Europe, which have seen a "surge" in staff to help the process..

However the UK opposition claims that only 300 visas have been issued to date.

The United Nations estimates that more than 1.7 million people have fled Ukraine since Russia's invasion began on 24 February, with over one million arriving in Poland alone.