UK gives visas to only 50 Ukrainian refugees, France calls it 'lack of humanity'
Categories: FOREIGN COUNTRIES
France has asked Britain to act quickly to resolve a visa blockade that is preventing some Ukrainian migrants from entering the UK through Calais, describing the situation as "inhumane" by France's interior minister, Gérald Darmanin.According to Darmanin, 150 of the 400 Ukrainian refugees who arrived in the northern French port after the Russian invasion were unable to enter the United Kingdom. Darmanin wrote to UK Home Secretary Priti Patel, urging her to establish a professional consular office in Calais, saying the British government's reaction thus far had been "completely unsuitable" and demonstrated a "lack of humanity" toward refugees who were often "in distress." Darmanin wrote in the letter, which was viewed by the Agence France-Presse news agency: "It is imperative that your consular representation – exceptionally and for the duration of this crisis – is able to issue visas for family reunification on the spot in Calais."