A terrible human tragedy is unfolding before our eyes – and the UK government is turning its back

Refugees Welcome: In closing visa applications for those stuck in Ukraine without relatives in Britain, the government has failed those in desperate need of safety

In cities, queues form at cash machines and petrol stations. Faces are shocked, voices are silent. As Russian forces rapidly advance through Ukraine we are seeing people huddled in makeshift bomb shelters and metro stations and some fleeing on foot with suitcases. As Western airlines avoid Ukrainian airspace, the only options are to escape by road.

Families are already being separated, with one Polish woman saying she couldn’t reach her Ukrainian husband and child on the other side of the border. “You can’t get through,” she told Reuters. “I can’t reach them on the phone. I don’t how to get my child out. I don’t know what to do.”

This is the human cost of Putin’s aggression; innocent people forced from their homes and separated from loved ones by this illegal and unprovoked invasion.

A UN refugee agency spokesperson reported that 100,000 people have already fled, and the UN has warned that up to five million people could be displaced by the crisis. A terrible human tragedy is unfolding before our eyes. We are seeing queues of people desperate to get out before it is too late, including LGBTQ+ people, journalists and activists who fear persecution at the hands of Russian forces.

It is imperative that the government works with the UNHCR and humanitarian agencies to establish safe and legal routes to seek asylum. That is why I have written, along with my Liberal Democrat colleagues, to the foreign and home Secretaries, urging them to make an ambitious commitment to resettle Ukrainian refugees in the UK. Many Ukrainians are seeking refuge in neighbouring countries, and we must also support those nations to provide the accommodation and support these refugees need.

But the government’s response has so far been lacklustre. Instead of opening routes for safe passage, ministers are shutting the door to Ukrainian refugees. In closing visa applications for those stuck in Ukraine without relatives in Britain, the government has turned its back on a people in desperate need of safety and sanctuary.

I am also urging the government to withdraw its Nationality and Borders Bill – currently going through parliament – because it would criminalise Ukrainians and other refugees who come to the UK seeking asylum.

What we are seeing on the borders of Ukraine is not a migration crisis; it is a crisis born of war. As Russian tanks move ever closer to Kyiv, there can be no delay. In Afghanistan we saw a military campaign generate a humanitarian crisis. And the government simply did not do enough. We cannot make the same mistakes again.

The government’s scheme for Afghan refugees saw many families trapped in small hotel rooms, waiting to be properly resettled and far too many remain without the settled immigration status the government promised. Crucially, ministers failed to properly involve local authorities in the design and development of the scheme or to give them the funding they need.

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It is therefore vital that any resettlement scheme must be matched with sufficient funding for councils. Our local authorities are waiting to open their doors to Ukrainian refugees, but they cannot be expected to bear this burden alone. We need the government to start working now with local councils on an ambitious resettlement scheme for Ukrainian refugees, including a full five-year funding package for each and every person a council resettles.

Strong words from the prime minister must be followed by strong action. We must stand with the people of Ukraine and provide them with humanitarian and military aid, while unleashing the severest of sanctions against Putin and his cronies.

My heart goes out to the people of Ukraine today. The Liberal Democrats stand with them and will continue to put pressure on the government not to turn its back on those fleeing Ukraine in their hour of need.

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.

Layla Moran is the Liberal Democrat MP for Oxford West and Abingdon