UK minister denies plans for humanitarian route for Ukrainian refugees | Refugees

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A Foreign Office minister has denied the UK is to offer Ukrainian refugees a new humanitarian-based route to the country, as he confirmed that it was possible only 50 people have been granted visas so far.

James Cleverly, the minister for Europe and America, said the figures for refugees processed “will move very, very quickly”, but said it was taking time because there were procedures that needed to be followed.

So far the UK has only been accepting those of the 1.3 million-plus Ukrainians to have fled the country since Russia invaded if they have family connections in the UK. On Monday, the Sun quoted Priti Patel, the home secretary, as saying she was “investigating the legal options to create a humanitarian route”.

However, it is believed she was referring to an existing method where a can be sponsored by a non-family member or an organisation. Cleverly confirmed on the BBC One Breakfast program that there were no plans for a specific humanitarian route for Ukrainians.

“No, this is what has been in place previously,” he said. “What we need to do is we need to have some sort of process. We need to know who is here, where they are staying, what support they might need, if there are child protection issues.

“Whilst all of us would want to throw our arms open and be as generous as possible, there does need to be a process. We’re going to make that process as quick and as easy as possible. There is no particular target or limit – we want to play our part.”

However, a Home Office source told the Guardian that “a new route is being worked on”.

Asked how many visas had been issued so far, Cleverly did not reject a reported figure of about 50.

“I know there were figures kicking around over the weekend that there were just 50,” Cleverly told Breakfast. “I haven’t had confirmation of that yet. Inevitably, as we’re work through this process quickly, there will be significantly more than that, but we don’t know exactly what the numbers will be.”

Similarly, he did not dispute reports that more than 5,000 Ukrainians were waiting in Calais for appointments or permission to enter the UK. “These figures are moving very, very quickly. This is an flow. There will be pressure on all our systems, right the way across Europe. We will be looking to move as quickly as we can so we can give people refuge.”

Ministers are facing pressure to do more, including from some Conservative backbenchers.

Asked on Monday if the UK refugee scheme had been a failure, Tom Tugendhat, the Tory MP who chairs the foreign affair select committee, told LBC Radio: “It’s certainly not a success, is it? What we need to do is to make sure that we get the Home Office is absolutely delivering to make sure we get support for those who are most in need.

“The British people are extremely generous, you and I both know that. This isn’t some sort of illegal scam. This is perfectly obviously people fleeing for their lines and we need to be absolutely there to support them.”

Challenged on the delays, Cleverly said there were procedures to follow, adding: “There is a process, we’re making that process quick. We need to know who’s here, where they’re going to stay, if there’s child support issues, if there are traumatic support issues.”

Asked whether the mental health toll of waiting at Calais was part of the consideration, he said: “You keep asking me the same question, and we’re looking if we can support them, we’re looking to make sure that they can come to the UK, and we’re looking to make sure that the process is quick. You’ve got to remember that two weeks ago, this situation didn’t exist at all.”

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