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It’s hard to believe that, as of this week, a year has elapsed since the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the refugee crisis which subsequently unfolded on a scale unseen in Europe for almost 80 years. In the aftermath of the invasion, people across Europe stepped up, with welcoming committees at train stations across the continent, individuals offering rooms in their homes and, in the UK, by applying public pressure to the Government who, alone in Europe, refused to waive visa requirements for fleeing Ukrainians. Stories of Ukrainians stuck in the country or on the border being unable to join family in the UK received significant press coverage as did the UK’s lagging compassion in contrast to the rest of Europe.
As was surely right, the UK did ultimately relent and relaxed not only the rules for families to be reunited but, with the introduction of the Homes for Ukraine Scheme, enabled over 160,000 Ukraine visa scheme holders to come to the UK as of February 2023.
The scale of Ukrainian migration to the UK reflected public sentiment. It reflected a shocked UK public witnessing the reality of life for those displaced from their homes. The challenges posed by the necessity of fleeing were clear – of course people didn’t have time to grab official documents or evidence of their need to flee, their priority was fleeing for their lives! For those who made it out of Ukraine into Poland, Romania or Moldova, the British public did not shrug their shoulders and say ‘Well they’re safe now, why would they need to come here?!’. There was a clear recognition of the reasons fleeing Ukrainians may need to find sanctuary in the UK versus somewhere else. We acknowledged the importance of family ties, proficient English language, or just an acceptance that those forcibly displaced from their homes ought to have some agency over where they rebuild their lives. There was also a strong sense that the UK should pull its weight and an embarrassment that we were not being as welcoming as our European neighbours.
Although not perfect, the Ukraine schemes have been a welcome option and have shown us that it is possible to offer safe and legal routes to those fleeing persecution and in need of international protection.
What has not been welcome has been the UK’s parallel and increasingly hostile approach to others in need of international protection. While the UK quietly welcomed Ukrainians, it boldly demonised those seeking protection from other parts of the world. From the passage of the Nationality and Borders Act 2022, to the on-going attempts to remove asylum seekers to Rwanda and the ever-escalating rhetoric targeting those who reach the UK via small boats, it is hard to think of a period of time in recent history when more negative attention has been focused, by successive Governments and elements of the media, on refugees and asylum seekers than the last year.
As we reflect on the one year anniversary of the war in Ukraine, we expect yet more legislation attacking those seeking asylum in the UK. Outside of the Ukraine schemes, we have seen no further progress on ‘safe and legal’ routes which would offer a genuine alternative for those who feel they have no option but to make dangerous journeys to the UK across the channel. Even the limited ‘safe and legal’ routes which do exist for non-Ukrainians have failed to offer much needed sanctuary. The often touted ‘Afghan Citizens’ Resettlement Scheme’ had not accepted or evacuated a single new person to the UK as of December 2022, 16 months after the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan endangered and displaced so many. It has been striking in our own practice, the fight we have had with the Home Office over the last year to admit an incredibly vulnerable Afghan female judge to the UK. Our client has sought to come to the UK through one of the supposedly safe and legal routes and has faced determined opposition from the Home Office at every stage.
When we consider that so many arriving by small boat originate from countries including Iran, Iraq and Syria, it is no surprise that the refusal rate for asylum claims was at just 23% in the year to September 2022, its lowest point since 1990.
These statistics sit at odds with the on-going attacks on those who arrive in the UK by small boat, both legislatively and in the language employed by the Secretary of State who, last year, used the incredibly inflammatory description of an ‘invasion on our southern coast’. Warnings have been made repeatedly about the danger posed by using such language, warnings that seem particularly prescient in light of the violent anti-immigration protests which have now erupted outside hotels hosting vulnerable asylum seekers.
It has been a year which has demonstrated what we can achieve when we roll out safe and legal routes but instead of building on these routes, it has been a year when we have also had to witness damage which can be done when we continue to use dehumanising language and enact laws which ignore the realities of those seeking protection.
FURTHER INFORMATION
If you have any queries on the above issues or any other immigration matter, please contact Katie Newbury or a member of our immigration team.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Katie Newbury is a Partner in the immigration team and has over 10 years' experience across a wide spectrum of UK immigration matters, with particular expertise in applications made under Tier 1 of the Points Based System and complex personal immigration matters.
We welcome views and opinions about the issues raised in this blog. Should you require specific advice in relation to personal circumstances, please use the form on the contact page.
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