Ukraine refugees trapped in Calais told to make 70-mile journey to Lille to apply for UK visas

No 10 faces down pressure for application centre in port town – where 300 refugees have gathered

Ukraine refugees trapped in Calais will have to make a 70-mile journey to Lille to apply for visas to reach the UK, No 10 has insisted.

Downing Street ruled out a U-turn, despite mounting pressure for an application centre to be set up in the Channel port town, where nearly 300 refugees have gathered.

On Monday, Priti Patel – who wrongly told MPs there is help available in Calais – suggested a new centre would be established close to the town, saying it would be “en route”.

But Boris Johnson’s spokesperson said the application centre would be in Lille, where it would be will be set up “in the coming days”.

Asked what Ukrainians in Calais should do, No 10 pointed to “a helpline in place” and to “facilities and staff in neighbouring countries to Ukraine”.

France has condemned the UK’s “lack of humanity”, after women and children in Calais were told to travel back to Paris to apply for visas giving permission to cross the Channel.

But Ms Patel, the home secretary, appeared to argue an application centre in Calais would help people smugglers, by creating “choke points”.

“We have set up a bespoke VAC [visa application centre] en route to Calais. but away from the port because we have to prevent that surge from taking place,” she said, on Monday.

Now it has emerged that the “en route” application centre will actually be in Lille – a 70-mile journey from Calais, rather than near the town.

In the Commons, Yvette Cooper, the shadow home secretary, protested that Ms Patel had told MPs the centre was open – but “it still doesn’t exist”.

The extent of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine (Press Association Images)

She also warned that the Brussels centre is open only three days a week, while the next available appointment at the centre in Paris is on 15 March – one week away.

Caroline Nokes, a Conservative MP and former Home Office minister, poured scorn on ministerial claims to be moving “at pace”, protesting: “Snails also move at pace”.

Warning there is no date for a promised sponsorship scheme to start, she added: “Those people coming forward with generous offers are advising their UK friends to apply for visitor visas.

“What of those who do not have passports? What of those children who are completely undocumented?”

Answering an urgent question on the crisis, the Home Office minister Kevin Foster refused to say if the sponsorship scheme would take “weeks or months” to get underway.

Answering an urgent question on the crisis, the Home Office minister Kevin Foster suggested the sponsorship scheme would take “weeks” rather than “months” to get underway.

Asked why the application centre will be in Lille, the No 10 spokesman said: “We obviously want to make sure that we can provide the appropriate level of support that those who are seeking to enter the UK require.

“Obviously, the Home Office and Border Force are best placed to make a call on where that would be best based to help support those people who are making their way through France.”

The Independent has a proud history of campaigning for the rights of the most vulnerable, and we first ran our Refugees Welcome campaign during the war in Syria in 2015.

Now, as we renew our campaign and launch this petition in the wake of the unfolding Ukrainian crisis, we are calling on the government to go further and faster to ensure help is delivered.

To find out more about our Refugees Welcome campaign, click here. To sign the petition click here. If you would like to donate then please click here for our GoFundMe page.