Ministry of Defence to step in to help Ukraine refugee scheme as Home Office faces criticism

Ministry of Defence to step in to help Ukraine refugee scheme as Home Office under fire

The defence secretary has said the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has offered to support the UK’s schemes to help Ukrainian refugees.

Home Office figures released yesterday evening showed that 300 visas had so far been granted to Ukrainian refugees since the Russian invasion. Around 17,000 applications have been made.

“Of course we could do more and we are doing more,” defence secretary Ben Wallace  responded when quizzed by Sky News earlier today.

“The first and foremost duty for all of us is to make sure those people get to safety. Once they’ve got to safety, making sure we just check their identity before they come to this country.”

“It shouldn’t take time and I’ve offered, and I will be offering, to the Home Office assistance from the MoD – in the same way we did in Op Pitting – to increase the processing time to help those people.

“The Home Secretary is determined to do that quicker… I will give her all the support I can to make sure it’s done as quick as lightning.”

“The ins and outs, the detail of how you process the visas, is clearly for the Home Office,” he added when discussing the scheme on  BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

The Home Office is facing criticism for allegedly turning away Ukrainians in Calais, and directing them to apply for visas in Paris and Brussels.

“But what I can say is the Home Secretary is determined to speed this up, how that is done and the ins and outs of the Border Force etc, I think I will leave for the experts to talk about,” he went on.