Government accused of putting ‘paperwork over people’ in Ukraine refugee crisis

The Government is prioritising “paperwork over people” in its response to the Ukraine refugee crisis, a charity boss has told MPs.

Enver Solomon, chief executive of the Refugee Council, urged ministers to urgently waive visa applications for people fleeing war-torn Ukraine in what he described as the “worst refugee crisis in Europe since the Second World War”.

He told the Commons Home Affairs Committee on Wednesday: “Unfortunately, I don’t think we’re in a very good place. We’re looking at the worst refugee crisis in Europe since the Second World War, we have a scheme in place that’s only issued hundreds of visas to allow Ukrainians to come here.

“We have Ukrainians queuing up in Calais, at the visa application centre in Poland, unable to access documentation.

“And I think the Government is making a fundamental error here. It’s not adopting a ‘refugees first’ approach, which it should be adopting. It seems to be adopting an approach which is ‘paperwork over people’ – people who have lost everything through no fault of their own.”

Mr Solomon claimed the Government had decided to “effectively tinker” with a standard visa scheme “rather than respond in a way that is required to an urgent humanitarian crisis”, branding this a “gross oversight”.

“I think it unfortunately sends the message to Ukrainians that ‘we’re not welcoming you’, we’re not creating a system that is quick, fair and efficient to enable those Ukrainians to come to the UK who want to come here,” he added.

Describing waiving visa applications so people could be fast-tracked to the UK, given recognition as a refugee and a limited period of leave to remain as the “best immediate short-term solution”, he also warned a long-term plan was needed.