As few as 50 visas have been issued for Ukraine refugees to come to the UK, it has emerged, as the crisis was labelled Europe’s worst since the Second World War.
Priti Patel was challenged over the low figure – as she became embroiled in a spat with France over refugees trapped in Calais without visas to cross the Channel.
On a visit to a help centre, the home secretary was asked if she had made it “too difficult” for refugees to be admitted, after – unlike the EU – rejecting pleas to waive visa rules.
“Nearly 12,000 have indicated that they’d like to come, over 5,000 have submitted applications,” Ms Patel was told.
“As of today, only 50 have been approved. So, given the desperation, how is it acceptable that only 1 per cent of UK visa applications have been granted? Are you making it too difficult?”
In response, Ms Patel did not dispute that only 50 visas have been issued, while arguing staff numbers are being boosted “across all application centres across the entire European Union”.
The Independent has asked the Home Office to confirm the figure of 50 successful visa applications, which was revealed by Channel 4 News.
Earlier, France protested at what it called the UK’s “lack of humanity”, after women and children in Calais were told to travel back to Paris to apply for visas.
But Ms Patel claimed: “The British government is not turning anybody around or turning anybody back at all.” She added: “I have staff in Calais to provide support to Ukrainian families.”
The French interior minister, Gerald Darmanin, criticised the way British officials are turned away refugees at the Channel for not having the necessary visas.
“I have twice contacted twice my British counterpart, I told her to set up a consulate in Calais,” Mr Darmanin told Europe 1 radio, referring to the home secretary.
Yvette Cooper, the shadow home secretary, called the situation “shocking”, asking if the government had “lost all humanity and solidarity”.
On the visa numbers, Ms Cooper added: “This is too slow. Too many hoops for desperate families to have to jump through. Home Office completely failing to understand urgency of crisis.”
But Ms Patel insisted: “It is wrong and it is inaccurate to say that we are not providing support on the ground. We are.”
However, Vadym Prystaiko, Ukraine’s ambassador to the UK, called for the “bureaucratic nonsense” surrounding visa applications to be cleared away.
“We believe that some of the procedures can be really simplified,” he said, after meeting, Ms Patel at the nearby embassy.
“We will sort it out later. Now we have to let as maximum people we can have as possible.
The figures appeared to show that 5,535 online applications have been completed and submitted online, while 2,368 people have booked a visa appointment to submit their application.
