'It has emerged that the rules exclude siblings, adult children and parents'
The UK government’s pledge to give refuge to Ukrainians fleeing the war doesn’t go far enough and has been slammed as ‘shameful’ by the Labour Party.
Late on Sunday, the government announced changes to visa rules for Ukrainians hoping to seek refuge in the UK after much pressure from opposition parties and campaigners.
Under the changes, Downing Street claimed that ‘any person settled in the UK will be able to bring their Ukrainian immediate family members to join them here.” The government insisted that the ‘temporary visa concessions’ would ‘benefit many thousands of people who at this moment are making desperate choices about their future.’
However, after further details published by the Home Office, it has since emerged that the rules exclude siblings, adult children and parents. The temporary concessions only apply to spouses, the parents of children under 18 or a child under 18, and close relatives requiring care.
Shadow home secretary, Yvette Cooper, said that the government’s record was “shameful”.
Cooper tweeted: “Updated guidance just published by Home Office shows even this first step does NOT apply to wider family.
“What are they thinking? What about people struggling to get elderly parents here, or Ukrainians who can’t come stay with sister or brother here.
“Shameful of Govt to refuse to even help other relatives in a terrible European war like this.
“Home Office must immediately extend this to wider family members and then they must set out a broader sanctuary route so UK also does its bit to help other Ukrainians too/2.”
Alistair Carmichael, the Lib Dem home affairs spokesperson, also criticised the announcement as “woefully inadequate”.
Shadow Foreign Secretary David Lammy has argued that: “We have to have a generous scheme that is equivalent to the scheme that we offered people after the Balkans crisis.”
Basit Mahmood is editor of Left Foot Forward
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