Fury as it’s revealed only FIFTY Ukrainian refugees have been given UK visas

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The government is facing a furious backlash today after it emerged just 50 Ukrainian refugees have been granted UK visas.

Europe minister James Cleverly struggled as he was pressed for an explanation on why the numbers were so low – while Priti Patel declared people will no longer need family links to come to Britain. 

French interior minister Gerald Darmanin has hit out at the UK for ‘inhumanely’ turning back refugees at the border due to red tape. 

And senior Tories joined the condemnation this morning, swiping that the policy is ‘a disgrace’ as it stands. 

In a tetchy interview on Sky News, Mr Cleverly admitted the figure seemed ‘small’ but stressed it should rise quickly.  

‘We have made it absolutely clear we want to support Ukrainians who are seeking refuge, both those who have family connections here in the UK and, indeed, those who don’t,’ he said.

‘Over the last 10 days or so we have seen huge numbers of people leaving Ukraine, fleeing from the conflict, we will support them in the places that they currently are – which is typically in countries bordering Ukraine.

‘But we will, of course, also welcome Ukrainians here to the UK.’

Complaining about being constantly interrupted as he gave lengthy answers, Mr Cleverly argued ‘the process has only just started’.

The Home Office has revealed that more than 13,500 Ukrainian refugees have started a UK visa application, but only 50 had been granted by yesterday morning.

By contrast, the total number of asylum applications to the UK last year was 48,540, up 63 per cent year-on-year.

Many of the 13,500 refugees have started but not completed the online application for the UK’s Ukraine Family Scheme.  

In a remarkable change of tack overnight, Ms Patel said she is planning to offer any Ukrainian refugee a possible route to the UK.

So far, only those who have a family member in this country have been granted sanctuary under the recently extended visa scheme. 

EU countries by contrast have waived visa rules, letting Ukrainian refugees in for up to three years without having to seek asylum.

Ms Patel told The Sun she was ‘urgently escalating’ the UK’s response to the crisis. 

‘In response to the desperation I saw with my own eyes at the Polish border two days ago, I’m urgently escalating our response to the growing humanitarian crisis,’ she said.

‘I am now investigating the legal options to create a humanitarian route.

‘This means anyone without ties to the UK fleeing the conflict in Ukraine will have a right to come to this nation.’ 

Conservative MP Tom Tugendhatchair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, said the current approach is ‘certainly not a success’.

LBC’s Nick Ferrari asked if the Home Office had failed by granting just 50 Ukrainian refugees visas so far.

‘Well, it’s certainly not a success is it?’ Mr Tugendhat said.

‘What we need to do is to make sure that we get the Home Office absolutely delivering, to make sure that we get the 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, you know, illegal scam. This is, perfectly obviously, people fleeing for their lives and we need to be absolutely there to support them.’ 

Fellow Tory Roger Gale was more blunt, tweeting: ‘So we now know the answer to the question that I posed yesterday: just fifty visas granted to date and families turned back at Calais. A disgrace.’ 

The Home Secretary visited the Ukrainian Social Club in Holland Park, west London yesterday to drop off a bag of donations including wet wipes, nappies and non-perishable foods and met with volunteers. 

She said her staff are people across the entire EU and are doing everything possible to aid Ukrainian refugees.

Ms Patel said: ‘Let’s be clear, this is the first scheme in the world that’s up and running in this short period of time.

‘Ten thousand applications and yes, grants are happening as we stand here right now and are speaking. So I’m surging staff across all application centres across the entire European Union as well as in the border countries such as Poland, where I was the other day and obviously where huge numbers of people are coming through.’

She added: ‘This is an incredible scheme and we are doing everything possible, surging capacity across every single application centre across the EU.’

Ms Patel added that staff are being flown into countries which border Ukraine ‘so we can fast track and speed up applications and it is right that we do this.’  

The Home Secretary denied accusations from France that refugees had been turned away from the UK at Calais.

Mr Darmanin said it was ‘inhumane’ of the UK to turn away refugees arriving in Calais if they did not have a valid visa. 

However, Ms Patel said: ‘Let me just correct what has been said by the French government. The British Government is not turning anybody around or turning anybody back at all.

‘And I think it’s really important to emphasise that, particularly at this time, when all nations across Europe must work together to help and support people in need and fleeing Ukraine at this awful, awful time.’

Ms Patel said: ‘I have staff in Calais to provide support to Ukrainian families that have left Ukraine to come to the United Kingdom. It is wrong and it is inaccurate to say that we are not providing support on the ground. We are.’

Mr Darmanin told Europe 1 radio earlier:  ‘I called my British counterpart twice.

‘I asked her to set up a consulate in Calais that can process people’s paperwork and issue visas.’

He said that hundreds of Ukrainian refugees in Calais have been told by British authorities to get a visa at UK consulates in Paris or Brussels.

Mr Darmanin said it was ‘a bit inhumane’ to expect them to travel to the consulates after their long journeys from Ukraine. 

‘The British must put their rhetoric into action, I’ve heard the big words of generosity from Mr (Boris) Johnson,’ Mr Darmanin said.

‘I hope this will allow the English to open their arms a little and stop the technocratic nit-picking’.

Ukrainian ambassador to the UK Vadym Prystaiko said any ‘bureaucratic nonsense’ around visas should be cleared.

Mr Prystaiko, who met Ms Patel at the nearby embassy after her visit, said: ‘We believe that some of the procedures can be really simplified.

‘We will sort it out later, now we have to let as maximum people we can have as possible.

‘All the security checks should be in place for obvious reasons because it is a war.’