Faced with criticism, particularly from France, the United Kingdom announced on Monday the installation in Calais (Pas-de-Calais) of a visa application center for Ukrainian refugees.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said his country will be “as generous as possible”.
It is “wrong to say that we are just sending people back, that is absolutely not the case, we are supporting those who have come to Calais”, added British Home Secretary Priti Patel.
Before Parliament, she confirmed that London had set up a visa application center in Calais, but “far from the port”. She insisted on the need not to create “bottlenecks in Calais”.
A “totally unsuitable response” according to Darmanin
The migration issue is at the root of long-standing tensions between London and Paris, especially since Brexit, of which border control was one of the great promises.
Last Saturday, in a letter to his British counterpart, French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin criticized the “totally inadequate response” and the “lack of humanity” of the United Kingdom towards the Ukrainian refugees turned back in the port of Calais.
“We already have two very, very generous pathways” for welcoming Ukrainians to the UK, Boris Johnson said in a televised address, referring to family reunification “which could potentially see hundreds of thousands of people come into the UK. this country” and the “humanitarian route”.
The Conservative leader assured that “thousands of files” were currently being processed by the immigration services, but warned that the United Kingdom would not let in refugees “without any checks or checks”. “We will be as generous as possible,” he added.
A total of 17,700 applications have been submitted for family reunification, Priti Patel’s services announced on Monday evening. But only 300 visas have so far been issued.