A visa center being set up in northern France to help Ukrainian refugees will not offer appointments or walk-in access, and its exact location will not be made public, the ministry confirmed.
Earlier, a Downing Street spokesman told reporters that the Lille center would “start accepting appointments” from Thursday, but this was contradicted by a statement released by the Home Office.
“We have taken urgent steps to quickly process visas for all those eligible for the Ukrainian family regime, while carrying out vital security checks,” he said.
“We have secured appointments at all of our visa application centers to ensure sufficient capacity and are deploying additional staff to help people through the process as quickly as possible.
“Given the risk of criminals actively operating in the Calais region, we have set up a new temporary visa application center in Lille which will open tomorrow and will focus on referrals only for people from the region who are eligible for the programme. . »
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On Tuesday, Home Secretary Priti Patel announced that a “bespoke visa application center” was “on the way to Calais” but said it would be set up away from the city to avoid “bottlenecks” around the port. .
Hundreds of Ukrainian refugees trying to reach the UK have turned up in Calais in recent days, but most have been told to go to Paris or Brussels.
Then it appeared on Tuesday night that another center would be based in Lille, more than 70 km from Calais.
Sky News understands that access to the center will be restricted to Ukrainians arriving in Calais who are considered the most vulnerable by British officials stationed in the French port city.
Key developments:
• Children buried in rubble after hospital was hit by airstrike in Mariupol, says President Zelenskyy
• A no-fly zone is needed to avoid a humanitarian catastrophe, says Ukrainian leader
• UK will not escalate conflict ‘in a way that would be unacceptable’ to world, says transport minister
• Tributes to ‘hero’ actor Pasha Lee, who died in the Russian bombing of Irpin
• First Lady Olena Zelenska writes an open letter condemning Putin and the ‘mass murder of civilians’
• Former Miss Ukraine describes how she fled Kiev with her seven-year-old son
The negative reaction shows that many believe that the capacity of the visa center is far from sufficient.
Two days ago, the Home Secretary told MPs that a new visa processing center was being set up near Calais to help Ukrainians desperate for visas.
Priti Patel said it would be installed ‘far from the port’ to avoid ‘bottlenecks’. Yesterday it was confirmed that the chosen location was, in fact, Lille, a city more than 70 miles from Calais.
Now that it has appeared, it will be a ‘pop-up’ center, which will not accept requests for visits or appointments, and its address will not be made public.
I am told that this is all due to the rate at which the center is being installed and the fact that capacity is being increased elsewhere at the same time.
Officials insist it will run smoothly tomorrow and focus on catering to those who show up in Calais and are seen as the most vulnerable.
But the backlash we’ve seen already makes it clear that many MPs and charities think it’s not close enough.
Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper criticized the government’s stance in a social media post: “Damn. Why doesn’t Priti Patel fix this?
“Do people now have to go as far as Calais before they can, perhaps, be sent back to Lille? This makes it harder, not easier, for desperate Ukrainian families. »
Ukrainian refugees flee through various neighboring countries.
A children’s hospital in Mariupol was attacked on Wednesday.
The Parliamentary and Health Services Ombudsman also raised concerns about the Home Office’s handling of the refugee visa process.
Rob Behrens said: ‘It is vital that the Home Office takes action to correct the flaws in the processing of visa applications, particularly the flaws we have previously reported and are seeing repeated here. »
“In this horrific situation, swift action is needed to ensure the visa process is simple, accessible and speedy. Lives depend on it. »
Earlier, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps defended the government’s decision to locate the temporary center away from Calais, saying: “We don’t want this to get mixed up with the wider problem of people smugglers and criminal gangs in Calais, so they don’t want to lure people to Calais without having to deal with the paperwork before they get there.”
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