Evening Standard Comment: Britain must step up to help Ukrainian refugees

Christian Adams
Evening Standard Comment28 February 2022

Today’s front page illustrates why people are fleeing Ukraine. We took the decision to show this harrowing image to drive home that no one — not even young children — is safe from Vladimir Putin’s war.

We are witness to a humanitarian crisis. More than 360,000 people have left Ukraine since the start of the conflict. The UK has a moral responsibility to help refugees seeking safety, but the Government’s response has been flat-footed at best.

From statements by Priti Patel that contradict information on the Home Office website to the tin-eared remark by a junior minister that refugees fleeing Ukraine could always apply for fruit-picking visas, Britain has not been meeting its international responsibilities.

Over the weekend, the Home Office was issuing visas in Ukraine only to close family members of British citizens who normally live in the country. Border force agents at Paris Gare du Nord station denied entry to Ukrainians who were attempting to join family here because they did not have the right papers.

The Prime Minister must get out in front of the situation and work with nations that border Ukraine, such as Poland, Slovakia and Romania, to establish processing centres that enable safe passage for those who wish to come to the UK. The British public, many of whom feel powerless at this moment of deep anguish, want us to take our fair share.

Co-ordinated action on refugees must match the impressive collaboration between western nations when it comes to the wider international response. From sharing intelligence to enacting sanctions and arming Ukrainians, Nato’s response has been impressive.

Germany has undergone a major policy shift in a matter of days, pledging to spend more than two per cent of GDP on defence, investing in new Liquefied Natural Gas terminals and deploying new forces in Nato’s eastern flank. Companies too are divesting from Russia, most notably BP ditching its 19.75 per cent stake in the state-owned Russian oil company Rosneft.

While Ukrainians display untold courage in defence of their homeland, the West must continue to support their cause of freedom and self-determination. It is a shared endeavour.