Thursday's announcement by the UK that visa processing for Ukrainian refugees would be eased with the introduction of an online applications system for those with passports was a belated acknowledgment that its much-vaunted welcome to those fleeing war falls far short of its European neighbours. It is still not enough.
The UK's policy is ungenerous, bureaucratic and cruel to vulnerable women, children and the elderly fleeing Ukraine. It is being justified by the specious "concern" that they may represent a security threat and include Russian infiltrators sent by Vladimir Putin to attack Britain. British officials have reportedly even briefed that Ireland's open-door policy could create a back door to the UK allowing such infiltration. The EU, Ireland included, has rightly opened its doors to the almost two million people who have crossed into the EU. Only 1,000 Ukrainians have to date been granted UK visas. Moldova, with a population of just four million, has taken in more than 80,000.
The UK virtual visa scheme will not cover Ukrainians without a passport – ID cards are not enough. Also excluded are Ukrainian residents who are not Ukrainian, and all refugees who do not have family in the UK. And the UK has already been forced reluctantly into broadening its restrictive definition of “close relatives”. Visas will still be required and biometric security testing will be carried out once refugees reach the UK.
The British policy, reflecting its knee-jerk hostility to immigration, echoes its response to the Syrian war when it deflected calls to take in more refugees with the insistence that they really wanted to stay close to their homes, and that it should therefore focus humanitarian assistance on neighbouring countries. Likewise in respect of Ukraine, where it has, to its credit, been to the forefront of supplying arms and has committed around £400 million in support to the country and its neighbours. The implicit message, however, is “we’ll help you, but please stay away”.
The simultaneous announcement of sanctions on the billionaire Roman Abramovitch and six other oligarchs smacks of a PR attempt to play catch-up. Assets will be frozen and those named will be prevented from carrying out economic transactions in the UK, including hiring staff.
But the half-heartedness of the British attempt to seize Russian wealth swishing around the City of London is perhaps better reflected in its refusal to accept Labour Party amendments to tighten the economic crime Bill going through the parliament. The Bill includes a new register of public ownership that would give the owners of around 95,000 foreign-owned properties six months to reveal their identities. The government rejected an amendment reducing the timeframe to 28 days, arguing that “decent law abiding citizens” could be caught up in a crackdown.