LONDON, March 10 (Xinhua) -- In recent days, the British government has been criticized by domestic political circles, public opinion and even France for the slow pace of receiving Ukrainians fleeing the war.
Visa processing was too slow, and the British government was criticized domestically
After Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine on Feb. 24, the British government pledged to take in about 200,000 Ukrainian refugees, stressing that there was "no upper limit" to the size of the reception. As of the 9th, the Uk government had only approved more than 700 visa applications submitted by Ukrainian asylum seekers.
On February 26, Ukrainians arrived at the Polish border crossing of Medica. (Photo by Xinhua news agency reporter Zhou Nan)
According to the British government, asylum seekers can apply for a British visa through two channels, one is the "family application" method, that is, the family members of Ukrainians in the UK can apply to come to the UK, and the visa is valid for three years; the other is to obtain financial support from British organizations.
Many members of the British Parliament have many questions about the second way to apply for a visa, asking why the relevant details have not been announced.
Lawmakers have criticized the government for taking in Ukrainian asylum seekers slowly and in small numbers. Tom Tugendatt, chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee of the House of Commons and a Conservative MP, said the efforts "certainly cannot be considered a success". Labour MP Yvette Cooper said the commitments made by the Conservative government were far from the reality.
The British media is also generally unhappy that the government is slow to approve visa applications for Ukrainian asylum seekers. The Guardian reported that asylum-seekers complained of having to deal with complicated application procedures after leaving their homes; the Financial Times published a comment criticizing the British government's policy of taking in Ukrainian asylum-seekers as "shameful".
People walk on Westminster Bridge in London, England, on Feb. 10. (Photo by Xinhua news agency reporter Li Ying)
Cold to Ukrainians? The British practice was complained about by France
The British government was also criticized by the French government for accepting Ukrainian asylum seekers.
French Interior Minister Gérard Dalmanin said that in the past few days, hundreds of Ukrainians have arrived in the northern French port of Calais to seek to go to the United Kingdom via the English Channel to join their relatives, and many have been refused entry by the British side and have been told that they must submit visa applications in advance at the British embassy in France or Belgium.
Dalmanin considered the British approach "not very humane" and urged the British side to abandon "picky practices at the technical operational level" and set up a consular service in Calais to process visa applications. He hinted that if the British side did not issue visas as soon as possible, some Ukrainians might venture to smuggle themselves into the English Channel to Britain.
On March 5, people were evacuated via the town of Ilping, a western Ukrainian town in Kiev. (Xinhua News Agency, photo by Diego Herrera)
Ukrainian asylum seekers are believed to have suffered a similar dilemma when applying for British visas in other European countries.
The BBC quoted witnesses at the British Visa Application Centre in Poland's Rzeszów as reporting that Ukrainians waiting for visas were anxious and angry, and this sentiment could trigger riots. The Independent used the term "ruthless" to comment on the cold reception of Ukrainians at the Uk Visa Centre in European countries.
In response to the French claim, British Home Secretary Pritty Patel responded that the British side had sent people to Calais to help the Ukrainians, and the French side "claimed that we drove people back, which is untrue."
James Kleffley, Minister of State for European Affairs at the British Foreign Office, said on the 7th that the visa requirements for Ukrainians to apply for asylum in the UK will not change, but the approval process will be accelerated in the next few days. (Cuckoo Xu Feng)