Ukraine: Calls to establish fast-track Ukrainian resettlement scheme

By Q Radio News

A South Belfast MP has called on the Home Office to lift visa requirements for Ukrainian citizens fleeing the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Claire Hanna is urging the UK Home Secretary Priti Patel to fast track the Ukrainian resettlement scheme following the resistance of the Home Office to relax visa requirements for Ukrainian refugees.

She says the Home Office approach ''has been utterly heartless''.

#UkraineRussiaWar: South Belfast MP Claire Hanna is urging the UK Home Secretary Priti Patel to fast track the Ukrainian resettlement scheme following the "utterly heartless" approach of the Home Office so far.https://t.co/FlaatRavev

— Q Radio News (@qnewsdesk) February 28, 2022

She said the UK Government has been hard on rhetoric but soft on support for refugees and condemned "heartless" comments from a Home Office Minister suggesting that refugees should apply for visas under the seasonal worker scheme which was designed to encourage fruit pickers to work on British farms during the summer. 

Claire Hanna MP said:

“The invasion of Ukraine is a violation of a sovereign European democracy in the name of Putin’s aggressive imperialist agenda.

"Millions of people are going to bed every night not knowing if they or their family will survive, not knowing if their town or city will be levelled by indiscriminate Russian airstrikes, not knowing when this oppression will finally end. 

“The implementation of the most robust economic sanctions has been a clear example of how the international community can mobilise quickly and effectively to squeeze oppressors. 

“Freezing the assets of oligarchs, however, will not bring the kind of immediate relief that frightened families in Kyiv and Kharkiv need.

"The humanitarian response to this crisis has, in comparison to the sanctions effort, been bitterly disappointing. 

“The Home Office approach to visas for refugees attempting to escape the conflict, in particular, has been utterly heartless.

"To see Ministers suggest that Ukrainian citizens desperate for their lives should apply to become seasonal fruit pickers on UK farms, for example, is ghoulish and galling. It stands in stark contrast to the Irish Government which has lifted visa requirements for Ukrainians seeking sanctuary. 

“On Friday morning, I tabled questions to Priti Patel seeking the introduction of a fast-track process for people fleeing conflict in Ukraine and Russia.

"The action taken by the Home Office to date is deficient, it has left people in danger and it must be addressed immediately.

"This is a moment to demonstrate the real value of European Solidarity beyond warm words.”