Ukraine war: Home Office confirm new UK visa center in Lille will not accept walk-in applications from Ukrainian refugees | Politics News

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A visa center being set up in northern France to assist Ukrainian refugees will not offer appointments or walk-in access, and its exact location will not be made public, the Home Office has confirmed.

Earlier, a Downing Street spokesman told reporters the center in Lille would “start accepting appointments” from Thursday, but that has been contradicted by a statement released by the Home Office

“We have taken urgent action to process visas at speed for all those eligible to the Ukraine Family Scheme, while carrying out vital security checks,” it said.

“We have protected appointments at all of our visa application centers ensure there is sufficient capacity and the extra staff to help people through process as quickly as possible.

“In light of the risk from criminal criminals operating in the area around Calais, we have set up a new temporary Visa Application Center in Lille which will open tomorrow focused on referrals only for people in the area eligible for the scheme.”

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Image: The Home Office has set up a small desk to help Ukrainian refugees in Calais but they do not want them getting visas there Image: This sign telling Ukrainians to go to Paris or Brussels appeared at a hostel in Calais on Wednesday

On Tuesday, Home Secretary Priti Patel announced a “bespoke visa application center” was “en route to Calais”, but said it would be set up away from the town to prevent “choke points” around the port.

Hundreds of Ukrainian refugees trying to get to the UK have turned up at Calais over the past few days but most have been told to go to Paris or Brussels.

It then emerged on Tuesday evening another center would be based in Lille, more than 70 miles away from Calais.

Sky News understands access to the center will be reserved for Ukrainians who arrive in Calais and are deemed the most vulnerable town by UK officials stationed at the French port.

Key developments: Children buried under rubble after hospital hit by airstrike in Mariupol, says President Zelenskyy• No-fly zone is needed to avert humanitarian catastrophe, says Ukraine’s leader• UK will not escalate the conflict ‘in a way that would be unacceptable’ to the world, transport minister says Tributes to ‘hero’ actor Pasha Lee who died during Russian shelling of Irpin First Lady Olena Zelenska writes open letter condemning Putin and ‘mass murder of civilians’ Ex-Miss Ukraine describes how she fled Kyiv with seven-year-old son

Image: Ukrainian refugees are fleeing through a number of neighbor countries

Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper criticizing the government’s position in a social media post: “Good grief. Why is Priti Patel not sorting this out?

“Do people now have to go all the way to Calais before they can – maybe – be sent back to Lille? This is making it harder not easier for desperate Ukrainian families.”

Image: A children’s hospital in Mariupol was attacked on Wednesday

The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman also expressed concern about the Home Office handling of the visa process for refugees.

Rob Behrens said: “It is vital the Home Office to correct failures in its handling of visa applications, especially failing acts we have previously reported and which we are seeing repeated here”

“In this horrendous situation swift action is needed to make sure the process of getting a visa is simple, easy and quick. Lives depend on it.”

Earlier Transport Secretary Grant Shapps defended the government’s decision to set up the temporary center traffic away from Calais, saying: “We do not want to see this mixed up with the wider issue of peoplekers and criminal gangs in Calais, so we don’t want to attract people to Calais without having the paperwork resolved in the first place before they get there.”

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