Priti Patel's response to Ukraine refugees: Incompetent, cruel … or both?

Following Priti Patel’s erroneous assertion that a visa application centre had been set up en-route to Calais – a statement characterised by Tory MP Sir Roger Gale as “untrue, and under any normal administration… a resignation matter” – the Home Secretary announced on Thursday that Ukrainian refugees would no longer need to submit fingerprints and documents before coming to the UK.

Despite this, numerous experts and activists maintain the system facing refugees is still confusing and obstructive.

Commenting earlier this week, Amnesty International UK CEO Sacha Deshmukh said: “This is still not good enough and anything less than a full visa waiver for Ukrainian refugees ought to be binned.

READ MORE: More than 20 Highland businesses pledge to sponsor 60 Ukrainian refugees

“Even under this new scheme, the grounds for entering the UK are still extremely narrow. The process is still full of red tape, with desperate and exhausted people still being required to provide birth certificates, proof of relationships and residence, and with everything still needing to be translated into English.

“It’s too little too late and is yet more evidence of the Home Office’s corrosively anti-refugee attitude.”

Elsewhere, SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford slammed Patel for presiding over what he described as “the slowest, most bureaucratic and incompetent refugee response in the whole of Europe.”

The controversy has crystallised numerous long-standing criticisms of the Home Office and the notorious “Hostile Environment” policy, whilst raising questions over whether those challenges facing Ukrainian refugees are a consequence of Home Office ineptitude, or intentional malice.

Approached for comment on these recent criticisms, a UK Government spokesperson told the Sunday National: “We are standing shoulder to shoulder with Ukrainians which is why we’ve made it easier for those with Ukrainian passports to come here. This is alongside changes to visas to ensure Ukrainians in the UK can stay here.

Home Secretary Priti Patel's response to Ukrainian refugees has been heavily criticised 

“We have expanded our Visa Application Capacity to 13,000 a week, deployed additional staff across the EU, with a 24/7 helpline in place to ensure those who need appointments can get them to come here. This allows us to balance security risks while welcoming those in need.

“A new sponsorship route, which will allow Ukrainians with no family ties to the UK to be sponsored to come here is also being brought forward and all the measures we’ve put in place follow extensive engagement with Ukrainian partners. We will keep our support under constant review.”

Nevertheless, many remain dissatisfied. Scottish Refugee Council chief executive Sabir Zazai told the Sunday National: “The fact is, there is simply no time to apply for visas when you are fleeing a war zone.

“We do not understand why the UK Government continues to drag its feet in the midst of such urgent and obvious suffering. Ireland brought in a full visa waiver scheme days ago, and 27 EU countries have pledged to offer three years temporary protection to people fleeing Ukraine – with no visas required. The UK continues to lag behind as an international outlier in its sluggish and meagre response.

“There are people caught up in this conflict who do not have a Ukrainian passport. Others may be struggling for digital access. All will no doubt but living with extreme trauma and under impossibly difficult circumstances.

“Narrow bureaucratic schemes like the UK’s often fail to offer comprehensive safety to the range of people affected by war. The UK Government must respect the UN Refugee Convention and offer safety to people of all nationalities who are forced to flee.”

Zazai emphasises that, amidst this crisis, the UK Government is still pushing through its Nationality and Borders Bill, or as he describes it, “the anti-refugee bill” – “a bill which would mean that a person fleeing this conflict who is not eligible for a visa waiver, or someone from Afghanistan or any other conflict across the world who reaches the UK off their own back, would be criminalised just for the act of seeking asylum”.

“This crisis has made the cruelty of this bill all too clear to see,” Zazai argues. “The House of Lords have voted over the past two weeks to remove many of this bill’s most harmful clauses. MPs must now follow suit when the bill returns to the Commons and significantly amend this law, legislation which is totally unfit to meet the moral and practical needs of today’s unstable world.

“We know that Scotland wants to offer a warm welcome to people fleeing this conflict and we stand ready to work with our communities and the Scottish Government to help deliver this welcome.”

Also speaking to the Sunday National, Glasgow solicitor Usman Aslam, who specialises in immigration and asylum law, noted Boris Johnson’s recent claim that his government has “done more to resettle vulnerable people than any other European country since 2015”.

Yet it is crucial, Aslam argues, that people understand the bigger picture when speaking about the UK response to refugees, particularly at this crucial moment for Ukrainians.

“Poland has taken in one million Ukrainian refugees since the war began – that is impressive,” Aslam says. “The UK, as of a few days ago, has taken in 300. Poland did this by not imposing restrictive, bureaucratic measures that the Home Office usually do.

“Also, where is the Humanitarian Scheme that Priti Patel has said she will roll out? Why can they not simply take Ukraine off the Visa National List (a list of countries that require a visa before entering the UK)? This would be the simplest solution.

“It may be also worth pointing out that while the Home Office are now saying that a passport isn’t required for Ukrainians, in family visas this has always been the case. This is not a favour from the Home Office. I have pulled out hundreds of families out of warzones over the past eight years, and 99% of them did not have passports. Their rules on this are clear.”

ASLAM continues: “What I find interesting is that the Home Office can, if someone pays a whack of money, issue a visa in a day – a process known as the ‘Priority Service’ and ‘Super Priority Service’.

READ MORE: Nicola Sturgeon and opposition leaders call for more action for Ukraine refugees

“However, whilst Europe is taking in millions of Ukrainians, the UK – as always – is very slow off the mark. Why can’t we have priority service when it really matters? Why are refugees currently awaiting around 20 weeks to even register their asylum claim, and then years before an interview? This can indicate a negative attitude towards refugees.

“The Ukraine Scheme also, as it stands, excludes students who are in the UK, as well as skilled workers who may have family in Ukraine. Why? These people are contributing to Scotland who has a proud history of taking in refugees.

“Let’s not forget Glasgow taking in 20,000 Belgian refugees during the [First] World War.

“The public should know that in the years Boris Johnson speaks of, the UK has taken in and granted asylum the least out of Germany, France, Spain, Sweden and Italy,” Aslam concludes.

“Our response to Ukraine is an international embarrassment.”