UK Fails To Set Up Refugee Route For Fleeing Ukrainians

A family heads to the Hungarian border yesterday after the Russian invasion

- Lizzie Dearden

Britain has not set up a route for Ukrainian refugees to reach UK shores, it emerged last night, as thousands headed to the border following the Russian invasion. The UK has stopped accepting visa applications from Ukrainians stuck in the country, meaning there is no safe and legal route for them to seek asylum in Britain unless they have British relatives.

Countries surrounding Ukraine are braced for an exodus and the UN Refugee Agency has warned of “devastating humanitarian consequences”. The United States has predicted that up to 5 million people could be displaced by the conflict, and Poland alone is preparing to receive up to 1 million refugees.

Steady lines of people carrying backpacks and dragging suitcases formed at border crossings yesterday, hours after Russian tanks rolled across Ukraine’s eastern borders. The International Rescue Committee urged states to commit their support publicly, with senior representative and former French minister Harlem Desir telling The Independent: “This should not be looked at as another migration crisis. This is a crisis of war. It should not be business as usual, we need real support for the Ukrainian people.”

Boris Johnson told the House of Commons yesterday that 1,000 troops had been put on standby “to help the humanitarian exodus in neighbouring countries” and insisted the government was helping British nationals.