Asked by
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what arrangements they have made
for Ukrainian nationals who lawfully arrived in the United
Kingdom on visitor visas before the war broke out and now cannot
safely return to Ukraine.
The Minister of State, Department for Levelling Up, Housing and
Communities and Home Office () (Con)
Ukrainians on visitor visas can now have them extended
automatically—since the war broke out, obviously, they cannot
safely return to Ukraine. They will be extended for six months.
Alongside this, we have made it easier for Ukrainians on work,
study or seasonal work visas to remain in the UK by extending
leave or allowing individuals to switch routes fee-free. I assure
my noble friend that people will be treated kindly and
sympathetically by Border Force officers.
(Con)
My Lords, can my noble friend give an assurance that the
Government will consider extending the right to stay to three
years, to put these people on the same footing as Ukrainian
nationals arriving in the United Kingdom as refugees?
(Con)
I can confirm to my noble friend that we are looking into this at
the moment, and it would seem sensible to extend the scheme to 36
months and allow those people the same benefits of living in this
country that are extended to people on the other schemes.
(Lab)
My Lords, if families are taken in by British people and they are
paid £350 per month, can the Government assure me that that £350
is not taxable?
(Con)
I can assure the noble Lord absolutely that that is the case.
(CB)
My Lords, underlining the point about the dire situation that the
noble Lord, , described, will the Minister
respond to reports that, according to the United Nations, the
number of people who have now fled their homes in Ukraine totals
10 million—a quarter of the population—that mass deportations and
abductions from Mariupol into locations deep inside Russia have
been instigated and that an art school sheltering some 400 people
has reportedly been destroyed? Did the Minister have the chance
to read the letter in Times on Saturday which highlighted the
plight of the 100,000 orphans, half of whom are disabled, housed
in 700 children’s homes? Is the noble Lord, as our Refugees
Minister—where he is doing a terrific job—able to instigate and
co-ordinate international efforts to ensure the safe evacuation
of those, clearly very vulnerable, children?
(Con)
I thank the noble Lord for his question. We have done quite a lot
of work on orphans in the countries around Ukraine. The problem
is that the policy of the Ukrainian Government, which we have to
respect, is that orphans are to be kept in countries adjacent to
Ukraine. In the vast majority of cases, they do not want them
brought to the UK or other countries. It is therefore our role,
predominantly, to support the Ukraine Government by providing
aid, hospitality and all the facilities that we can in those
countries.
(Con)
My Lords, my noble friend has been very helpful. What happens to
those to whom permission for three years is given when the six
months for which the Government are paying elapses? Are the
Government prepared to continue paying those families or are they
expecting those refugees to move elsewhere?
(Con)
My Lords, I will just clarify the situation. The six months to
which my noble friend refers is the six months of the sponsorship
scheme. That is the minimum period for which individual sponsors
may be asked to provide accommodation. That, of course, is
extendable. All the benefits, rights to education and all the
other facilities extend for the full three years. Depending on
what the sponsor wants, however, those people might have to move
to another sponsored accommodation or elsewhere after six
months.
(Lab)
My Lords, I have not yet had the chance to congratulate the
Minister on his new post. Many of us have quite high hopes for
what he is going to achieve; I hope that does not damage his
political future. Will the Minister have a look at the difficulty
Ukrainians are having in getting visas to come here? There is
still a very slow rate of progress, so could he do something to
speed it up, please?
(Con)
I thank the noble Lord for his kind words but I think my
political prospects diminished several years ago. I am doing this
job, as the noble Lord knows, because I was involved with the
Syrian refugees. I thank him for his help then and for his
candid, but always polite, criticism of what we did. The visa
process has been greatly expedited: now, refugees with Ukrainian
passports can download the form on their phone with the passport,
and will get a response very quickly, without having to go to the
visa centres, which have caused such delays. I regard that as a
major improvement.
(LD)
My Lords, following up on that question, the noble Lord last
week, in answering questions on the Statement, said that the
intention was to greatly shorten the visa application forms and,
I think, to make them available in Ukrainian. How long is the
visa form now, compared to the 50 pages that it was originally?
Is it available in Ukrainian?
(Con)
I thank the noble Lord. I can assure him that it is a lot
shorter. I am afraid I cannot give him the exact number of pages,
but the Home Secretary and I have been through it line by line.
It is shorter and, I hope, will get even shorter. As for the
language, while the form itself is in English, at each section a
drop-down column comes out with the Ukrainian translation. It is
not quite what the noble Lord wants, because we also have to
think of all the officers who have to work on it who are not
trained in Ukrainian, but every single word is translated in
those drop-down boxes.
(CB)
My Lords, I am co-chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on
Human Trafficking and Modern Slavery. Our group is very concerned
about the plight of vulnerable children on the borders of
Ukraine, where they are at huge risk of human trafficking. What
are the Government doing about that?
(Con)
I share the noble Baroness’s concern about this. We are in
regular touch with the authorities and the aid agencies on the
ground. Predominantly, the Government’s policy is to fund the
relevant agencies on the ground to help facilitate the kind of
safety required. I must make clear again, however, that it is the
clear policy of the Ukrainian Government, as reiterated to me by
the ambassador here, not to move children very long distances but
to move them to safety in countries such as Poland, adjacent to
Ukraine.
(Lab)
My Lords, I warmly welcome the noble Lord, , to the
government Dispatch Box and express the hope that he has rather
more success than the football team mentioned in his title is
currently having.
Noble Lords
Oh!
(Lab)
I sincerely hope he does have more success. Can the Government
confirm that, under the terms of the Nationality and Borders
Bill, as it came to this House from the Commons, refugees fleeing
the carnage and threat to their lives in Ukraine would be dealt
with as having entered the UK unlawfully, thus creating a
criminal offence, if they arrive here—perhaps by small boat
across the channel—requiring leave to enter or remain and not
having such leave?
(Con)
The noble Lord has made me speechless about the prospects for
Watford football club, but I reluctantly accept that he is quite
correct.
On the substance of his question about Ukrainians arriving in
small boats, all I can say is that it is our policy to treat any
Ukrainian who arrives—and others, I hope—with as much sympathy
and compassion as we can. I would like to meet with him or drop
him a line about a more specific answer to his question.
(CB)
My Lords, referring to the Minister’s previous response, what
measures will be taken to ensure that Ukrainian refugees are
safeguarded from being subjected to modern slavery? Will welfare
checks and safeguarding assurances be undertaken regularly and
before any payments are made under the “Homes for Ukraine”
£350-a-month “thank you” payment scheme?
(Con)
I can confirm that checks are being carried out as we speak on
sponsors before refugees arrive in their homes, and that local
authorities will be carrying out further checks in the weeks to
come.
(Con)
My Lords, I too welcome my noble friend Lord Harrington to the
Front Bench. On the previous question about languages, given that
not all Ukrainians’ first language is Ukrainian, can the Minister
assure us that there will also be a Russian translation?
(Con)
I cannot give my noble friend that undertaking because I am not
sure, but I will know within minutes of sitting down what the
answer is. We have certainly ensured that there are welcome signs
and packs available at the airports for those who need Russian.
However, we have been told that many Ukrainians are quite
offended by the use of the Russian language, so we have to be
careful.
(Lab)
My Lords, we have huge admiration for the fighting ability and
bravery of the Ukrainians fighting against the Russians, and it
is important that they should continue that fighting for as long
as possible, because that will mean a better outcome at the end
when things change. You fight far better when you know that your
family and loved ones are being looked after and are safe and
being taken care of—not just while you are fighting but should
you be killed. Does the Minister not believe that we should bend
over backwards in every single way to look after Ukrainian
refugees, to ensure that it is in our benefit and that it is the
right and proper thing to do?
(Con)
I agree totally with what the noble Lord said. Everyone in the
two departments I am involved with is certainly instructed to
ensure that refugees are treated in a humane, compassionate way,
understanding that many have had very traumatic experiences
before they get here.
