One and a half million determined Ukrainian refugees. Fifty British visas. It beggars perception.
In time of warfare we must always maintain emotional responses in proportion, however typically the hypocrisy is insupportable. Boris Johnson is frantically – and blatantly – traipsing his Churchill act by means of the capitals of Europe. He hurls abuse at Vladimir Putin and guarantees Ukraine weapons and missiles, help and sanctions, persecution of oligarchs, something wanting troopers. However when requested to do the one concrete factor which may straight relieve that nation’s agony, he reverts to kind. For god’s sake maintain these Ukrainians away from our shores. Keep in mind the ark of the Brexit covenant.
Throughout Europe, EU nations have thrown open their doorways. 1000's of households have actually completed so. There aren't any border guards, wire fences, sheafs of paperwork and calls for for proof of id and well being. These persons are frantic. They may quickly be spreading out throughout Europe. Clearly most will likely be non permanent and most will wish to keep inside attain of their properties. However that also leaves tens of 1000's begging for refuge farther west, many in England as they converse the language.
When the surge started Johnson gained headlines by promising to let in 200,000 “eligible” Ukrainians. It turned out that “eligible” meant solely these with direct, quick relations, although even this didn’t embrace the dad and mom of anybody over 18. Solely after an eruption within the Home of Commons did Johnson make what he offered as a grand concession, to embrace grandparents. By the weekend it emerged that of 5,535 laboriously accomplished on-line functions, simply 50 had been granted. Greater than 1,000 have already entered the a lot smaller Republic of Eire. It's obscene.
The manufacturing facility of excuses has been working extra time. There's speak of Ukrainians “not likely desirous to be completely settled right here” and of the necessity to submit them to official safety clearance and biometric knowledge checking. 100 and fifty of 400 refugees who had made it to Calais had been reportedly informed by British officers to go to Paris or Brussels to attempt for visas there. Ukrainians with out households in Britain might solely get in in the event that they discovered somebody to sponsor them. Particulars of what this implies are nonetheless being “labored up at tempo and will likely be communicated in the end”. We are able to solely assume that Priti Patel’s officers are nonetheless working underneath Theresa Might’s “hostile setting” coverage in direction of immigrants. She and they're oblivious of the disaster in frequent humanity now looming over Europe.
A frostier welcome to Britain might hardly be imagined. There isn't any trace that Ukrainians ought to have unrestricted proper of entry as they flee the Russian invasion, as elsewhere in Europe for the previous horrific week. Johnson presumably believes it's not what the British public need. I can hear him saying, they voted for Brexit, didn’t they?
It's laborious to not see Johnson’s electoral calculus beneath all this. The obsession with halting migration has entered the House Workplace soul, a division now institutionally xenophobic. The result's shameful. When right this moment’s Britons are requested by their grandchildren what they did within the nice Ukrainian warfare, they must reply that, due to Johnson, “at the least we stored the foreigners out”.
Simon Jenkins is a Guardian columnist
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