Asked by
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to allow a
greater number of Ukrainians who do not have family in the United
Kingdom to come to this country; and what assessment they have
made of the number of UK citizens willing to offer rent-free
accommodation to refugees from Ukraine.
The Minister of State, Home Office () (Con)
My Lords, the Government have announced that the UK will
establish a humanitarian sponsorship pathway, which will open up
a route to the UK for Ukrainians who may not have family ties
with the UK but who are able to match with individuals,
charities, businesses and community groups. There will be no
numerical limit on this scheme; we will welcome as many
Ukrainians as wish to come and have matched sponsors.
(CB)
I thank the Minister for her Answer, which is very welcome
indeed. Rabbi Jonathan Romain in Maidenhead advertised locally
for people willing to offer rooms to Ukrainian refugees and,
within days, he had 240 offers. I believe that that could be
replicated all over the country, so I am very glad that the
Government have given that Answer. Will people with a named host
and named accommodation who wish to come here be able to
undertake the process in this country rather than having to go
through a long and very unsatisfactory visa process via Paris or
Brussels? Poland and Germany have shown very open hearts; I
believe that the British people will do the same.
(Con)
I totally agree with the noble and right reverend Lord that the
British people will be very generous. In fact, just before we
started Questions, the right reverend Prelate the told me about a
Church-based organisation that had already had 891 pledges. These
are fantastic figures; the noble and right reverend Lord is
absolutely right: we need to have them in the country first, and
we need to expedite that process as quickly as possible. I am
very keen to capture that enthusiasm and help, and offer support
as soon as we can.
of Newnham (LD)
My Lords, in light of that answer, can the Minister say whether
there will be an opportunity for people to apply for visas in
this country rather than being kept at Calais? Secondly, the
Secretary of State for Defence was unable to answer a question on
the radio this morning on whether the ACRS scheme for Afghan
refugees has actually opened, saying that this is a matter for
the Home Office which is rather busy with Ukraine. Can the Home
Office not manage to deal with Afghan and Ukrainian refugees
simultaneously?
(Con)
I think it is fair to say that the Home Office is dealing with
both Afghan and Ukrainian refugees simultaneously. Up to 9
o’clock this morning, 4,278 appointments had been made at VACs;
that is across the world, but it is a lot of VAC appointments. I
checked for myself where the main bulk of those appointments were
being made and the vast majority—that is, half of the
appointments —were, of course, unsurprisingly, made in Poland. We
have two VACs in Poland. For people fleeing Ukraine to be able to
go straight to a VAC in Poland is clearly the best and easiest
thing for them to do, to avoid problems along the way, shall we
say.
(Con)
My Lords, the Minister has just told us about the vast majority
of appointments being made at VACs in Poland. I know of a family
who have been waiting in Warsaw for some time and the website has
not changed; they cannot make an appointment. The helpline, which
the website says will be manned 24/7, is not manned over the
weekend. Yesterday, I asked a question and was told that a team
of four experts was going to Poland to help build capacity. Can
the Minister reassure me that this is being increased and that
people in Poland will be able to get VAC appointments so that
they can come back home?
(Con)
It is very difficult to know from a short exchange on my noble
friend’s question when the family tried to make the appointment
and all that sort of detail, but I know that 1,451 appointments
have been made in Warsaw. I will keep her updated. We have extra
capacity in our VACs and will have 100 extra people trained by
the end of the week. I will certainly take back her point about
Warsaw, and make sure that everything is running smoothly.
(Lab)
My Lords, is it true that the Government have issued more visas
to Russian oligarchs than they currently plan to issue for
Ukrainian refugees? Does the Minister’s announcement today mean
categorically that there will be a vast increase in the number of
Ukrainian refugees accepted?
(Con)
As I said, the figures are uncapped: as many people who want to
come here can come, whether or not they have family ties. It was
estimated last week, I think, that under the family routes
provisions we might see 200,000—there is no limit on the number
of people who can come here through this humanitarian sponsorship
pathway scheme.
My Lords, the Government have rightly praised the generosity of
the people of the United Kingdom, but there seems to be a
systemic problem in allowing that generosity to be exercised. Can
the Minister say something about the systemic issues and address
an associated matter: how can we guarantee that the information
we are given is accurate, given what has happened in Calais, for
example? We keep hearing from the Government that we are leading
the way, but we are patently not.
(Con)
I can say to the right reverend Prelate that this scheme is
new—only a few days old. I think that I recognised, in my answer
to a previous question, that we want people’s generosity—the
British people are very generous—to be captured, and I hope that
this scheme will be up and running as soon as possible.
(CB)
My Lords, last Wednesday we were told that the sponsorship scheme
would start and were given a telephone number. That number was
only for Ukrainians. If you phone in today you are referred to an
0300 number that does not work. Yesterday I was told in the
Portcullis House information hub that the department for
levelling up, rather than the Home Office, is taking a lead on
this. Can the Minister tell the House when there will be a
streamlined system of information whereby people who are
sponsoring somebody can register that sponsorship and advise the
people who are trying to get out of Kyiv?
(Con)
The sponsorship scheme, as I have said, should be up and running
very shortly, and DLUHC will indeed be the lead department on it.
In response to the noble Baroness, I undertake, when there is a
number and the scheme is up and running, to come back to the
House and give details.
(LD)
My Lords, surely what is needed, as well as numbers, is speed.
The UK has admitted only 300 Ukrainian refugees, while the
Republic of Ireland has admitted 1,800. Why is the UK dragging
its feet?
(Con)
I wholeheartedly agree with the noble Lord that speed and numbers
are vital. I understand that as of 9 o’clock this morning there
were 526 grants under the family scheme. With regard to the
sponsorship, however, the noble Lord is right: we need to do it
quickly and efficiently.
(Con)
Is it not clear from listening to interventions from all around
the Chamber that—
(CB)
My Lords, in addition to the help that the Government are giving
to Ukrainians to come to this country, will they consider
offering humanitarian visas to those brave Russians—members of
the clergy, members of civil society, academics, journalists and
ordinary citizens—who face long prison sentences for exercising
their democratic right to oppose this war?
(Con)
I am very glad that the noble Lord asked that question because,
at this point, we all need to stop and remember all of those
Russian people who are so against, or do not even know, what is
happening in Ukraine. I do not have many details of that, but it
is certainly heartbreaking when you see Russian soldiers fighting
in Ukraine who appear not to know what they are doing and why
they are doing it.
