Following on from my previous blog, in fact all my previous blogs, isn’t it possible to be a bit more optimistic about asylum policy? After all, didn’t we step up to the plate after the start of the war between Russia and Ukraine, when we welcomed Ukrainian refugees? This is certainly how the media generally depicted the UK’s response and the arrival of Ukrainian families (the majority were women and children, since most of the men had stayed behind in Ukraine to fight the war). And it was true we saw relieved Ukrainians given a warm welcome by British families, as well as by charities and other sponsors. This was surely how a humanitarian rescue scheme should work, and it looked like it had. But there are problems looking at the Ukrainian refugees’ experience solely through this lens, and one story will illustrate what I mean.
The government promised support for Ukrainian refugees wanting to join their families or link up with sponsors and come to the UK. As part of that support it said there would be a British “surge team” in Calais to meet them and presumably guide them through the necessary procedures.
There wasn’t.
Instead, said a BBC report on 9 March 2022 (see link below), “almost 300 Ukrainian refugees trying to reach the UK have already been turned back at the French border by British Border Force officials”. A BBC reporting team had followed the experience of one Ukrainian family. They found that the “support” amounted to “three men at a trestle table in a deserted departure hall at the port, with bags of ready salted crisps and KitKats.” If the family had thought, “We’ve reached France, we’re nearly there,” they were quickly disappointed. They were told to make an appointment for 15 March in Paris –– 200 miles away. That, apparently, was the nearest Visa Application Centre (VAC) available.
Readers of one of my earlier blogs (Safe routes (1)) will remember the difficulties Afghans faced when trying to get visas. There were no VACS in Afghanistan and they had to find one after leaving the country. Now the Ukrainians were having similar problems: the VAC in Lviv in Ukraine was closed and they had to search abroad. An obvious solution would have been to put a VAC in Calais. However, Home Secretary Priti Patel had other things on her mind. She had decided not to set up a VAC in Calais because, reported the BBC, she feared that refugees might be exploited by people traffickers and encouraged to cross the Channel in small boats. The Ukrainians, however, weren’t thinking of small boats. They were thinking of visas, and a simple ferry crossing, or a seat on a train. A “surge team” and a VAC centre would have protected them from criminal gangs. But they were nowhere in sight.
This was hardly a good start. The government’s current guidance is on its page entitled “UK Visa Support for Ukrainian Nationals” (see link below). It tells you how it will support you if you have family in the UK and also if you don’t have family here; it tells you about the UK sponsorship scheme (Homes for Ukraine):
The scheme enables people and organisations in the UK (sponsors) to bring Ukrainians and their family members to the UK under the Homes for Ukraine scheme.
It tells you about “Other visas you can apply for”. It tells you how to do it: “You’ll need to complete your online application form”, and then you’ll be able to “book an appointment at a visa application centre to have your fingerprints and photograph taken.” The next sentence, however, may cause you to panic, since, still, and not surprisingly, “Visa application centres in Ukraine are currently closed.” Your panic attack won’t be helped when you remember the warning flagged at the top of the page:
You must not travel to the UK before you have a visa or a letter from the Home Office giving you permission to enter.
But not to worry:
Visa application centres are currently operating throughout Europe including:
Find the opening times, address and contact details for UK visa application centres near you.
Check with your local visa application centre if there are restrictions because of coronavirus (COVID-19). Some visa application centres might be closed until further notice.
Click on Next and you will be told:
You can contact UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) from inside or outside the UK.
Contact centre staff cannot give you advice about your personal circumstances.
I gave up at this point. But do try it.
The good news is that 100,000 people have been welcomed by hosts in the UK. The arrangement with hosts was for a period of 6 months, and hosts were paid £350 per month. The government’s plan was that when the 6-month period was over the Ukrainians should rent their own houses or “rematch” with another host. For many people, this is not working. Hosts are deciding not to rematch and many who had expressed willingness to help have changed their minds. In one Leicestershire area, only 10% of people who had offered to help now want to continue. (see Guardian link below). There are several reasons for this: rising energy bills and rising inflation generally, as well as higher interest rates, which affect, for example, mortgage repayments. Local councils are finding it difficult to solve the problems and by the end of October 1,915 Ukrainians have registered as homeless. By Christmas it is increasingly clear that there will be no room at the inn.
So what am I saying? That nobody is treated well, or that nobody gets to safety from Ukraine or Afghanistan, or from all the other places that people flee from? Of course not — because they clearly do. And when it comes to the hospitality of local communities, we have all seen the TV pictures of the warm welcome given by host families to their guests, and the Ukrainians telling how host families have left no stone unturned to ensure that their guests have access to all the help they need.
Yet wherever you flee from, including Ukraine, the UK government deliberately litters your path with obstacles to discourage you. Often only the most desperate and determined are likely to succeed. And if, in your desperation, you do find your way on to a small boat from Calais to Dover, and survive the journey, you may end up in Rwanda, or some other country where you have no friends or relatives, or you may end up in a British jail, because the Nationality and Borders Act and the other Acts and Regulations now being prepared say you are illegal, inadmissible, or just a plain criminal.
Why? Ask them. Ask your MP. Use some of the material in these blogs and ask some difficult questions. What are they going to do about these cruel, inhuman policies? And see what they say. And make some suggestions. And join an asylum and refugee support group in your area.
References
UK visa support for Ukrainian nationals
Sponsorship scheme
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/apply-for-a-visa-under-the-ukraine-sponsorship-scheme
BBC News
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-60659786
The Guardian
Bob Mouncer's blog 