In a joint letter to and , Shadow Home Secretary and Shadow Levelling Up
Secretary Lisa Nandy say the government must address the
“shameful scale of bureaucracy” that is “preventing desperately
vulnerable people from reaching sanctuary in the UK”.
They urge their counterparts to urgently provide clarity on a
number of points, including the length of time taken for visas to
be issued, how long security checks are taking, and how many
visas have been granted under the ‘Homes for Ukraine’ scheme.
The Department for Levelling Up has failed to provide any figures
for the performance of the scheme, despite saying the first refugees
would arrive on 20 March.
and Lisa Nandy write: “The
shameful scale of bureaucracy is preventing desperately
vulnerable people from reaching sanctuary in the UK.
“The result of unnecessary Home Office bureaucracy is that
desperate Ukrainian families are being let down. While the
response of the British public has been overwhelming, with more
than 150,000 families signed up to open their homes, the system
you have created is squandering that generosity and failing to
deliver the support that our country rightly wants to provide.
“The government has known for months about the potential invasion
of Ukraine by Russia. It is therefore unacceptable that more than
a month on from the start of the conflict there has been so
little progress and there are so many people waiting in limbo
before they can reach some security and support.”
While some checks are necessary, especially to safeguard children
on the move, Labour's plan for emergency protection visas and
biometric checks would rapidly speed up the process of getting
Ukrainians to the UK.
ENDS
Notes to editors:
- Launching the ‘Homes for Ukraine’ scheme on 13 March,
saidthat refugees
would begin arriving in the UK “in a weeks’ time”.
- He also claimedthat the
process would move faster because the government was not taking
a role matching sponsors to refugees.
- Letter text below:
Dear Priti and Michael,
We are writing to you to express concern about the shamefully
slow rate at which Ukrainian families are able to take up
sanctuary in the UK.
We continue to hear of serious delays for families in accessing
visas under the Ukrainian Family Scheme. This also affects the
Homes for Ukraine scheme. Two and half weeks since it launched,
and over a week since the first refugees were supposed to have
arrived, shockingly we still have no public information on how
many visas have been granted under the scheme. Those numbers
should be urgently made public.
There have been a number of concerning reports about the demands
made of applicants. One of the most horrifying was that of a
pregnant woman who was told to wait to give birth so she could
get a visa for her newborn, involving hundreds of miles of
travel, before she could come to the UK. Many families are
still facing long journeys out of their way and long waits to get
appointments at visa application centres, often having to wait
many more days in accommodation that they cannot afford. Why is
the Government still refusing to set up emergency centres along
the major travel routes to help people and especially to help
families with children?
The shameful scale of bureaucracy is preventing desperately
vulnerable people from reaching sanctuary in the UK. Can you
therefore please urgently clarify:
- The average length of time taken for visas to be issued
(under both schemes)
- The current delays at Visa Application Centres, and what
action is being taken to tackle them
- How long it is taking for security checks that could be done
instantly, to be completed in practice
- How long people are waiting for visas once security checks
have been completed
The result of unnecessary Home Office bureaucracy is that
desperate Ukrainian families are being let down. While the
response of the British public has been overwhelming, with more
than 150,000 families signed up to open their homes, the system
you have created is squandering that generosity and failing to
deliver the support that our country rightly wants to
provide.
For those arriving through the Homes for Ukraine scheme, the visa
process presents multiple barriers before they can even begin
navigating the problematic DIY matching process and unclear
vetting procedures.
The government has known for months about the potential invasion
of Ukraine by Russia. It is inconceivable that your departments
would not have discussed the issue of refugees in that time. It
is therefore unacceptable that more than a month on from the
start of the conflict there has been so little progress and there
are so many people waiting in limbo before they can reach some
security and support.
We would be grateful if you could respond to this letter by
return.
Yours sincerely,
MP
Shadow Home Secretary
Shadow Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing &
Communities
