Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she plans to take to speed up the transit of the Ukrainian people to the UK in the context of the humanitarian crisis in Poland and neighbouring countries along the Ukrainian border.

Immigration issues cannot be tackled by one country alone; it takes an international effort. The UK Government is therefore engaged in dialogue with a range of international partners to ensure solutions to migration issues are practical and in the best interest of the Ukrainian people. The Home Secretary is speaking regularly to her international counterparts, including in countries bordering Ukraine, to understand how the UK can work together with our partners.

The Home Office has launched the Ukraine Family Scheme and the Homes for Ukraine Scheme to support Ukrainians who wish to come to the UK. We have also made the visa process quicker and simpler for Ukrainians to come here. Valid passport holders no longer have to attend in-person appointments to submit fingerprints or facial verification. This means Visa Application Centres across Europe can focus their efforts on helping Ukrainians without documentation. We have also surged capacity to countries neighbouring Ukraine including Poland, Hungary, Romania, Czech Republic and Moldova, including a new pop-up VAC in Rzeszow, Poland.

The UK is committed to supporting the growing humanitarian crisis in Ukraine and the forced displacement of people. The UK is providing £220 million of humanitarian assistance for Ukraine, which takes the UK total support to the Ukraine crisis to almost £400 million overall. We have also deployed UK humanitarian experts to support Ukraine’s neighbours, who are receiving and supporting refugees fleeing Ukraine, through providing logistics advice and analysis of needs on the ground.