Boris Johnson's government has extended the reception criteria to Ukrainian citizens fleeing the war in his country, but his offer is still far behind that made by the EU, which has allowed all refugees a stay of up to three years without the need to apply for a visa.
The British Minister of the Interior, Priti Patel, announced on Tuesday family reunification plans that, in theory, could involve the reception of up to 200,000 Ukrainians.
Faced with the scheme announced last Sunday, which only contemplated "direct relatives" (husbands or wives, unmarried couples with at least two years of cohabitation, children under the age of eighteen, or adults who need special care), the Government of Johnson has ended up yielding to some of the criticism and expanded the criteria to include parents, grandparents,
Still, Patel has resisted calls from many refugee aid organizations and even lawmakers from his own party to completely eliminate visa and asylum procedures.
The minister has pointed out the British Government's fear that the "extremists on the ground" in Ukraine will end up infiltrating the refugees, after the history of violence by some Russian agents in British territory.
"We know very well all that [Vladimir] Putin's Russia is capable of, even on our own ground, as we saw with the Salisbury attacks," Patel said.
In 2018, two members of the Russian special forces tried to assassinate Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia with the nerve agent Novichok.
The former Russian soldier and double agent was then residing in British territory.
Downing Street will allow Ukrainians who arrive in the United Kingdom through family reunification a stay of up to one year, in which they will be able to access the labor market and enjoy public and social benefits.
In addition, the government will streamline a sponsorship route for charitable organizations or businesses to apply for visas for citizens from Ukraine.
“We are seeing people flee their country, and we must do what we have always done historically, which is nothing more than giving them all the support they need.
What they are asking for is a simple route to a sanctuary of refuge, and I don't think the Home Office has gone as far as it could go on this," said Labor Party leader Keir Starmer.
The opposition, however, has not gone as far as calling for a completely open door policy, aware of the sensitivities that the refugee issue has unleashed in the country in recent years.
Very different from the attitude shown by four dozen Conservative MPs, who wrote a letter to the Prime Minister at the end of last week asking him to follow the example of Brussels: “It is not simply a migration crisis.
It is a war crisis.
We should not settle for the usual answer, we need urgent and sincere support for the people of Ukraine.
The UK cannot waver, and its message must be very clear: victims of war seeking refuge are welcome,” the letter said.
In fact, according to an express survey carried out by YouGov, two thirds of the British unequivocally support the implementation of a plan to receive Ukrainian refugees.
“As a temporary measure, we ask the government to allow Ukrainian citizens to travel here without the need to apply for a visa,” said the director of the UK Red Cross, Mike Adamson.
"There is no problem in continuing to carry out security checks on people arriving in the country, but the measure would be much more in line with the strategy adopted by the EU."
In fact, the French government has called on London to relax its entry rules for Ukrainians fleeing the war.
According to the newspaper
Le Parisien,
citing a presidential adviser to Emmanuel Macron, the British resistance is holding many refugees in northern France.
"We have pointed out to the British authorities the difficulties that are causing both the lack of information and the excessively restrictive nature of their [visa] system," said the adviser.
The conflict has already caused close to a million internally displaced persons, according to estimates on Tuesday by the UN refugee agency (UNHCR), and at least another 660,000 have left the country in a few days.
The Johnson Government has announced, in addition to its refugee reception plans, that it will allocate more than 260 million euros to humanitarian and emergency aid for Ukraine.
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