In Calais, Ukrainians turned back for lack of visas for the United Kingdom
And suddenly, two fawns appear through the window. They cross a field. The girl is having fun. But the train is speeding by and she doesn’t have time to grab her phone to take their picture. Sitting next to her, her mother with her cell phone in hand, but she has already scrolled through other images… Those of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second city, her city. Its buildings bombarded, gutted, its streets deserted. Elena and her 11-year-old daughter fled on March 4, leaving behind a husband, a son, a brother… but also a job at university for one, ballet lessons and piano lessons for the other. In fifty-two years of life, this is the first time that Elena crosses the borders of Ukraine. In a few days, by bus or train, loaded with a few backpacks, she and her daughter crossed Poland, Germany, and, Monday, March 7, a part of France.
In the train that takes them from Paris to Calais (Pas-de-Calais), they aim for England. The British Ukrainian community is intended for about 100,000 people. The low, “a friend is ready to support me and my daughter”, Elena said. However, she does not have a visa to go there and does not know how to obtain one.
For more than a week, the border town of Calais has seen hundreds of Ukrainians arrive, hoping to reach the United Kingdom, and to be turned back for lack of visas. ” Since the start of the war, 589 Ukrainians have arrived in Calais, underlines Louis Le Franc, the prefect of Pas-de-Calais. Among them, 303 were able to go to England but 286 could not because they must complete their visa application. »
The UK is the only European country to still require visas from Ukrainians fleeing the war. And these visas are granted in dribs and drabs: a total of 17,700 applications have been submitted for family reunification, the services of British Home Secretary Priti Patel announced on Monday evening. But only 300 visas have been issued so far. “In the European Union, there is the Schengen free movement area, the Europeans cannot impose controls, even if they want to. Our system is different, and I think it’s reasonable,” a statement from Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Monday on the sidelines of a meeting with his Dutch counterpart, Mark Rutte.
“Everything is very long”
A situation that feeds the discord between Paris and London. French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin denounced on Sunday “lack of humanity” of the British authorities and asked for the opening of a consular branch in Calais to prevent the Ukrainians who were turned back from having to return to the British embassies in Paris or Brussels. Monday, Mme Patel first asserted in the House of Commons: “We have an office near Calais, but not on the port”, before admitting that this office “is not yet operational”. “In the meantime, those who are turned back must be housed, fed and their number is increasing day by day”insists Louis Le Franc.
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