Asked by
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many Ukrainian asylum seekers
and refugees have arrived in the United Kingdom since the
invasion of Ukraine by Russia.
The Minister of State, Department for Levelling Up, Housing and
Communities and Home Office () (Con)
I thank the noble Lord for his Question. As of 29 May, 65,700
people have successfully come to the UK from Ukraine. That
includes 23,100 on the Ukraine family scheme and 42,600 under our
Homes for Ukraine sponsorship scheme. We are now operating at
about 5,000-plus applications per week. The visas take between
two and three days, if there are no problems attached to them; I
said 48 hours at my first outing at the Dispatch Box in this
House. The number of applications awaiting conclusion is about
19,000, which includes applications at various stages of the
caseworking process and with different levels of complexity.
If I may, I will briefly mention to the noble Lord, , unaccompanied children—the
second part of his Question. As he is aware—we have discussed
this many times—our policy has been not to accept children on
their own, in keeping with the Ukrainian Government’s policy,
unless of course they are reuniting with a parent or legal
guardian here. As a result of his questions, many discussions
with MPs, noble Lords, officials, the Ukrainian Government, local
authorities and—oh, sorry.
(Lab)
My Lords, the Minister is confirming that we are not taking any
unaccompanied children from Ukraine—a clear statement of
government policy—even if the host family has been fully vetted,
despite the fact that when they applied it was okay for them to
apply for a visa as unaccompanied children. The Government have
banned it subsequently. The Home Office said on May 6:
“Where we are made aware of an individual being provided with
incorrect advice, we will of course take action”.
How can the Government justify leaving vulnerable, unaccompanied
children frightened in a war zone? We cannot do that.
(Con)
I was about to explain to noble Lords our policy on children who
have parental consent or that of a legal guardian as accepted by
the Ukrainian Government. I hope to announce a policy change in
the days to come. Regarding the children the noble Lord is
referring to, it is very much government policy to help the
agencies helping children on the ground in Poland, Moldova—where
I have been—and Romania.
The (CB)
My Lords, one possible result of the Ukraine family scheme is the
delivery of a physical biometric residence permit to the
successful applicant in the post. This is a free process and I
thoroughly applaud it. What plans do the Government have to
extend that to the EU settlement scheme?
(Con)
I am not aware of any plans the Government have to extend that to
the EU settlement scheme.
(LD)
My Lords, at a Home Affairs Select Committee meeting on 11 May, a
senior Home Office official said that undocumented people who
travel from Ukraine to the UK could be considered for removal to
Rwanda and the Minister refused to say whether Ukrainians who
arrive in the UK across the channel by boat could also be sent to
the central African country. If, out of desperation because of
the significant delays the Minister has just told the House
about—19,000 applicants are still awaiting an outcome—these
people arrive in the UK without a visa, could they be sent to
Rwanda?
(Con)
I can assure the noble Lord that there are two very good legal
channels for refugees from Ukraine to come to this country. There
is therefore no reason at all for them to be sent to Rwanda or
anywhere else other than, I hope, back to Ukraine when the
political and military situation allows.
(Lab)
My Lords, with respect, the Minister did not quite answer the
question asked by the noble Lord, . If such a person arrived from
Ukraine without a visa, might they be considered for being
shipped off to Rwanda?
(Con)
I can assure the noble Baroness that there is no reason at all
why they should come here without a visa. It takes 48 hours to
get a visa and there are very good legal routes for them to come
here.
(CB)
My Lords, does the Minister recall that I drew to his attention
the procedure I saw in Vilnius for arriving Ukrainian refugees?
Every single arrival was asked individually about what they may
have witnessed or seen on the ground in places such as Bucha,
Mariupol or some of the other places subjected to war crimes and
atrocities. Has the noble Lord been able to put similar
procedures in place in the United Kingdom? Does he not accept the
importance of collecting evidence while it is fresh in people’s
minds, especially as there are now court cases taking place in
Ukraine and the International Criminal Court is also considering
proceedings?
(Con)
The noble Lord makes an excellent point and, I must say, one that
I had not considered within my remit. I think it is something the
Government should be doing, however, and I assure him that I will
make inquiries about it. Perhaps I could write to the noble Lord
in the next few days.
The Lord
My Lords, what assessment have the Government made of the number
of Ukrainians currently here on economic or student visas who may
soon be at risk of overstaying their visa and may be unable to
return home, and of the sort of support that they might require
and be given?
(Con)
Again, that is an excellent question. We do not know the number
of visas that are running out but I know that we have measures in
place to make sure that when those visas—student visas, work
visas and other types—run out they will be extended in this
country and there will be no need for those people to return to
Ukraine should they not want to do so.
(Lab)
The Government are rightly focusing on Ukrainians, but can the
Minister tell me whether the Government have any policy towards
the several hundred thousand Russians who have fled Putin’s
Russia and will be very important for a post-Putin Russia? They
are scattered all over Europe and surrounding areas. What
attention do the Government give to those people and the enormous
asset they can be to the West generally in its battle against
Putin?
(Con)
I fully accept that those people could be a major asset to this
or any other country. I am not aware of a separate policy for
them. Of course, they could claim asylum as refugees and there
are all the other routes to come into this country, but I will
look into it.
(Con)
My noble friend will no doubt remember the United Nations scheme
for Bosnian refugees. I was the Minister responsible for that in
the 1990s. Can my noble friend confirm whether the categories
relating to Ukrainians coming here could have the support of the
United Nations behind them, so that we have a scheme specifically
put aside and the treatment of those people coming from Ukraine
avoids some of the tougher things said recently by Ministers?
(Con)
I reiterate what I have said before to my noble friend: we have a
system for Ukrainian refugees to come to this country
legitimately. It is my duty and honour to make sure that scheme
works and that as many Ukrainians as possible fleeing the misery
and all the terrible things happening there come here.
(LD)
My Lords, may I refer the Minister back to an answer he gave a
little while ago? Can we accept from what he said that there are
certain circumstances in which those fleeing war zones may be
sent to Rwanda—yes or no?
(Con)
I reiterate that refugees from Ukraine are perfectly welcome to
come here and there is absolutely no reason why they should be
sent to Rwanda. They are welcome here, we have accommodation for
them, local authorities are paid to look after them and we have
already welcomed nearly 70,000.
(Lab)
My Lords, in the case of children accompanied by a parent or a
legal guardian, should the children always be treated the same
way? The reason I ask is that a case has been brought to my
attention in which the parents and the elder child received visas
in the normal way but the family had to travel a substantial
distance to get a visa for the younger child. What possible
explanation could there be for this? Surely this is just a source
of delay for the family travelling to safety in this country.
(Con)
The noble Lord makes an excellent point. There is a source of
delay where there has been an identification problem with the
youngest child. I hope the new system we have in place now means
that that is not necessary. If they have to go to a visa centre—I
have observed this happening in Warsaw and elsewhere—it is only
because there is no way we could identify that very young child
with the parent. We look for the lightest possible method of
identification. In fact, I have seen a letter from the doctor who
delivered a baby being considered acceptable. We have to satisfy
ourselves that young children are indeed who the mother or
relative says they are. I accept that it has led to hardship
where there has been a big delay and I hope that will not happen
again.
