THE HOME Secretary has been accused of squandering opportunities to help Ukrainians in need after data revealed just 3 per cent of people who have applied for a visa have managed to get here.

According to figures published by the Home Office today, 43,600 a

 

 

pplications have been made under the Ukraine Sponsorship scheme, which will see groups and individuals sponsoring refugees to come and stay with them in the UK.

However just 12,500 have been granted visas so far, and only 1200 have actually arrived in the UK under this scheme.

Under the Ukraine family scheme, which allows Ukrainians to come to the UK if they have relatives already settled here, 36,300 applications have been made and 28,500 issued. Just 10,800 people granted visas under this route have come to the UK.

Home Secretary Priti Patel said she apologised “with frustration” at the progress but denied that visa requirements were causing unnecessary hold-ups, and insisted the public will “absolutely see changes in numbers” as work continues.

She said: “ I apologise with frustration myself… it takes time to start up a new route.”

Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said: "This is scandalous and shameful. Over thirty thousand people with British sponsors waiting are still stuck in limbo - around half of whom have been waiting more than ten days already to hear anything.

“A shocking 70 per cent of Homes for Ukraine applications are still waiting for a visa. Behind these numbers are many desperate mothers and children in temporary accommodation or still sheltering in Ukraine.

"Where is the Home Secretary? She needs to stop hiding and account for this national disgrace. British families have offered Ukrainians sanctuary in their hour of need, but the home secretary is letting everyone down."

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey called on Ms Patel to resign over her “failure” to help those fleeing Ukraine with effective refugee schemes.

He claimed the Government was “squandering” the “amazing generosity” of Britons who had offered up their homes to Ukrainians with “needless bureaucracy and delays”, later adding on Twitter: “An apology isn’t enough. She must resign.”

Just 566 visas have been issued for those who want to stay with a sponsor living in Scotland, including 35 sponsored directly by the Scottish Government acting as a “super sponsor”.

The following table details how many visas have been issued per local authority in Scotland.

The Herald:

Minister for Refugees Neil Gray MSP has branded the situation "completely unacceptable" and said there had to be a better way to help. 

He said there was frustration among Scottish hosts who had signed up to sponsor Ukrainians in need.

Mr Gray explained: "Scotland stands ready to provide immediate safety and sanctuary to Ukrainians displaced as a result of this illegal war but these latest figures lay bare the glacial pace at which the UK Government is moving to approve visas.

“To grant just 40 visas through the Scottish super sponsor route – a tiny fraction of those Ukrainians who have applied under the scheme – is simply unacceptable, and is wholly inadequate in providing immediate help to displaced people from Ukraine in need of safety.

“The slow progress is not just deeply frustrating to the Scottish Government but also to the many thousands of generous and kind volunteers who are ready to offer a warm Scots welcome to Ukrainians.

“The Scottish Government has long expressed concerns the UK Government’s approach would be too slow, which is why we offered to act as ‘super sponsor’, removing the need for applicants to be matched prior to travelling to the UK.  

“We continue to strongly press the UK Government to do all it can to urgently and significantly speed up their approval processes.”