Priti Patel urged to send emergency help for Ukraine refugees stranded in Calais in visas row

Home secretary told to ‘send an emergency team to Calais immediately to get desperate people swiftly through’

Priti Patel is being urged to send emergency help for at least 150 Ukraine refugees stranded in Calais by what France calls the UK’s “lack of humanity”.

Labour and a Conservative MP called on the home secretary to act – after women and children were told to travel back to Paris to apply for visas giving permission to cross the Channel.

Yvette Cooper, the shadow home secretary, called the situation “shocking”, asking if the government had “lost all humanity and solidarity”.

“Ukrainian families turned away by UK at Calais and told to go back to Paris for a visa. Priti Patel needs to get a grip,” she said.

Ms Patel needed to “send an emergency team to Calais immediately to sort this out today and get desperate people swiftly through”, Ms Cooper added.

Roger Gale, a Tory MP in Kent, asked: “What are we doing to relieve the pressure on those frontline states that have already taken in more than a million people?

“Time, surely, to cut the red tape and admit any refugees with a valid Ukrainian passport and any accompanying children.”

The crisis has sparked another cross-Channel spat, with the French interior minister Gerald Darmanin criticising the way British officials turned away refugees for not having the necessary visas.

“I have twice contacted twice my British counterpart, I told her to set up a consulate in Calais,” Mr Darmanin told Europe 1 radio, referring to the home secretary.

But, in a statement, the Home Office made no mention of opening a consulate in the port town, while insisting it is “doing everything possible to help those fleeing the war in Ukraine”.

The government has declined to waive visa rules to allow fleeing refugees to come to the UK, although it is allowing family members to join Ukrainians already in this country.

In contrast, the EU – confronted with 1.5 million refugees just 10 days after Russia’s invasion – has offered asylum to all Ukrainians for three years.

Mr Darmanin, in a letter to Ms Patel, attacked the UK’s “lack of humanity” towards refugees “in distress”.

France had announced its expectation that Britain would set up a pop-up visa centre in Calais – prompting hundreds of Ukrainians to travel there, in an attempt to reunite with their families in the UK.

“Our coasts have been the scene of too many human tragedies. Let’s not add to that those Ukrainian families,” Mr Darmanin added.

A government spokesperson said: “The UK is focused on doing everything possible to help those fleeing the war in Ukraine, with an unprecedented scheme to quickly help tens of thousands of people from Ukraine to reunite with their families in the UK. Many have already successfully applied.

“Staff have been surged across Europe to support people in coming to the UK and all visa application centres remain open, with thousands of appointments available to carry out essential security checks, and a dedicated helpline has been set up.”

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