By Gavin Mackintosh-
Ukraine schemes taken together are one of the fastest and biggest visa programmes in UK history, and the Home office is doing its reasonable best, despite criticism in the media.
This is the message from the Home Office to its critics in the face of growing pressure from the public for more visas to be handed to Ukranian refugees seeking to flee the deadly war in Ukraine. Amid the wide criticism against the speech of the scheme, the Home Office told this publication it doing its best and following reasonable procedures in the interest of the security of the British public.
The UK government has offered a monthly payment to households that accommodate fleeing refugees from Ukraine, but critics have attacked the British government of not doing enough to speed up the process of bringing refugees to the UK quickly enough.
One volunteer who runs a Facebook page that matches refugees to hosts in the UkDelays in the UK visa scheme , described the progress as shambolic and disgraceful, as she branded the process fundamentally flawed from start to finish.
“There are hundreds and thousands of amazing people out there but very little support from the government and the local authorities and it’s just a little bit shambolic,” she said
Another volunteer, Stephen Gooderson , said 12 months rent has been paid on the properties in Ashton-under-Lyne by fundraising, but not one family has been allowed into the UK to move in.
However, the Home Office has called for patience, as it tries to assure the volunteers and critics that it is imperative the Home Office ensures that it is able to positively identify all applicants, and ensure the visa scheme is not abused at the expense of the British pubic.
”The public rightly expect we keep them safe from security risks, and these changes ensure we can deliver that while welcoming those in need. Public security demands we have confidence that an individual asking to come to the UK is who they say they are”, a home office representative told The Eye Of Media.Com.
The Home Office said figures for both schemes will be published weekly each Friday, as of 1 April.
”We’ve always said we’ll keep our support under constant review, and it’s right that we continue to adapt and develop the processes we have in place to ensure they keep pace with the rapidly shifting situation on the ground and are as efficient as possible while maintaining vital security checks”, the Home Office added.
The Home Office said improvements to ensure visas are being processed quickly, includes surging staff across government to bolster resource and speed up times, including through night shifts and weekend working, alongside extra training for case workers to help speed up decision making.
”We have increased capacity at Visa Application Centres to 13,000 appointments per week across Europe to help people without documentation and we are processing over 1,000 applications a day for both schemes as a minimum”, the Home Office added.
The British Red Cross have suggested that the quickest way to help people would be for the UK to stop requiring visas for those fleeing Ukraine – and would bring it in line with many other countries which have done so since the crisis began. That suggestion does not seem viable, given the potential long term implications of admitting people into the Uk without any conditions.
The charity have had representatives at major airports and arrival hubs since 19 March – but claim that only 65 Ukranains have received help so far.
The Local Government Association have claimed that some refugees with visas have not been housed, but there hasn’t been much in the way of verifying those details.
The Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme allows Ukrainian nationals and their family members to come to the UK if they have a named sponsor under the Homes for Ukraine Scheme, and they will be able to live, work and study in the UK and access public funds.
Applicants granted visas can stay for up to three years in the UK.
A Government spokesperson said:
“We are moving as quickly as possible to ensure that those fleeing Ukraine can find safety in the UK through the Ukraine Family Scheme and Homes for Ukraine.
“We have streamlined the process so valid passport holders do not have to attend in-person appointments before arriving in the UK, simplified our forms and boosted caseworker numbers, while ensuring vital security checks are carried out.
“We continue to speed up visa processing across both schemes, with 25,500 visa issued in the last three weeks alone and thousands more expected to come through these uncapped routes.”