Grant Shapps defended the UK’s controversial management of the Ukrainian refugee crisis by saying it is down to Ukraine’s wishes.
The transport secretary insisted that Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky did not want Ukrainians to move too far from their country so they can quickly return when it becomes safe.
He told Sky News: “Geographically we are, of course, spaced further to the West and president Zelensky and the Ukrainian government have told me that they do not want people to move far away, if at all possible, from the country because they want people to be able to come back.
“We are really leaning into this, at the same time respecting Ukraine’s wishes, the government’s wishes, not to pull people a long way away from Ukraine.”
“We have given £400 million, in addition the British people have been incredibly generous as well,” he said.
Speaking to the BBC, he added that the number of visas processed will increase “with 6,000 appointments a day available now”.
Dominic Raab made similar claim
Last week, deputy prime minister Dominic Raab also suggested Ukrainians would rather flee to countries closer to home .
Upon being pressed on why the UK is not matching the EU’s efforts during the Ukrainian refugee crisis, he told Sky News: “In relation to the Europeans, of course they’re closer to Ukraine and as the Ukrainian ambassador to the UK said over the weekend it will often be the case that… most Ukrainians will want to stay in Ukraine, but if they leave they’ll want to be as close to their home country as possible in order to be able to come back in the future.”
Meanwhile, Home Secretary Priti Patel told MPs that thousands of people applied to come to the UK through the Ukraine Family Scheme visa.
But only 300 have been approved and hundreds are stuck in Calais after reportedly being turned away by Britain because of lack of paperwork – something which Patel denied is true.
Ukraine refugees
The following day, BBC’s Mark Easton went to Calais and said there were three officials, a box of ready-salted crisps and some Kitkats.
There was also a notice board announcing “no visas in Calais”, prompting Easton to reveal the UK government is asking Ukrainians to call a UK number or go to a website and then travel to Paris or Brussels to get the necessary documents which could allow them to come to the UK, if successful.
“Now of course, making international calls, getting online or getting to Brussels or Paris from Calais may be easier said than done if you’ve just arrived from a war zone,” presenter Ros Atkins highlighted.
Meanwhile, Moldova, one of Europe’s poorest states, has taken in over 100,000 refugees since the war in Ukraine started, according to media reports – which the country’s prime minister says means every eighth child in the country is now a refugee.
Related: From ‘Kindertransport’ to ‘Ukrainetransport’: Lessons from saving children from Nazis