Charities urge UK to welcome refugees fleeing Ukraine conflict – The Guardian

Charities have urged the UK government to welcome refugees from the conflict in Ukraine on the same scale as the thousands of families from the Balkans resettled during the Yugoslav wars in the 1990s.

In a letter to the Times, the charities, which include Save the Children, Amnesty International and the Refugee Council, asked the UK to lead international cooperation to handle a sudden increase in the number of people forced to flee the conflict, which threatens to be the most significant in Europe since the collapse of Yugoslavia.

The US has warned that 5 million people could be displaced by the conflict.

The UK government said its priority was to support British nationals and their families in Ukraine, and the government position was that people fleeing persecution should seek safety in the first safe country they reach.

An estimated 100,000 Ukrainians are already internally displaced after fleeing their homes to escape attack, while footage on social media shows lines of cars heading west into neighbouring Poland, Moldova, Romania, Slovakia and Hungary. The UN has appealed to neighbouring countries to keep their borders open to people seeking safety.

The letter from dozens of charities urged the government to implement a well-resourced initiative working with councils across the country to support Ukrainians in search of sanctuary, similar to the evacuation and resettlement programme during the Balkan conflict.

Visa applications from Ukraine for people who are not related to British nationals are currently suspended, meaning there is no legal route for them to enter the UK and claim asylum. A source told the BBC the government was scenario-planning for an increase in asylum seekers from Ukraine.

The charities said the crisis illuminates the crucial flaw in the nationality and borders bill, which discriminates against refugees who reach UK shores by illegal means, such as by boat across the channel.

The charities wrote: We urge the government to rethink this harmful bill and uphold our proud record of helping those fleeing war and oppression.

The prime minister has announced that the UK has 1,000 military troops on standby to support a humanitarian crisis in Europe, should they need to be called upon.

On Thursday, the Home Office confirmed that work, study or visit visas would be temporarily extended for some Ukrainians in the UK, or they would be able to apply for family visas or points-based immigration without leaving the country. This would grant them additional time to potentially find a job and stay in the UK for longer.

Those already on the point-based system will be able to stay longer and seasonal agricultural workers will have their visas automatically extended until the end of the year.

A government spokesperson said: Our priority has been to support British nationals and their families in Ukraine. This has included temporarily waiving application fees for those eligible under the family migration route, allowing entry for 12 months for others who did not meet the requirements and fast-tracking visas.

We continue to work with our international partners on a range of issues as the situation develops, including migration.

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Charities urge UK to welcome refugees fleeing Ukraine conflict - The Guardian