Volunteers help a Ukrainian woman at the Western Railway Station in Budapest
(Picture: Getty Images)The Ministry of Defence will step in to help process Ukrainian refugee visas after the Government was accused of acting “too slowly” to help desperate families trying to reach Britain.
The Home Office has so far issued just 300 visas to refugees, despite more than 17,500 applications.
It comes amid reports hundreds of families are being turned away from crossing the English Channel in Calais because they do not have the correct paperwork.
On Tuesday, Ben Wallace said the Government “can do more” and offered MoD troops to help speed up the process.
He told Times Radio: “The only point that I think is a fair question is could we do much better on processing, speed of the security checks and the visas.
“I don’t disagree we can do more on that. We can speed that up. I will be offering to the Home Office Ministry of Defence personnel to support them if they need it. We can do more on pop up visa centres.
“The Home Secretary understands that and is absolutely determined to deliver a much faster process.
“I think it’s right we check people’s identity. There’s no harm in checking people are who they say they are, I think that’s the right thing to do. But the key here is to just make sure we lean in and speed up that process.
“There’s 17,000 applications that have been started. Yes, only 300 visas have been issued. I suspect that will rapidly increase.”
More than 1.5million people have fled Ukraine since Vladimir Putin’s army invaded on February 24.
Britain has pledged to take in more than 200,000 refugees fleeing the Russian forces.
Those with relatives in the UK can apply to come here under the Ukraine Family Scheme, while others can be sponsored by Britons or companies.
Home Secretary Priti Patel has said she is also investigating a “humanitarian route” for those without relatives in Britain, but said those coming to the UK must go through security checks.
On Monday she announced a mobile visa application unit will be set up in Calais to help ease the visas backlog.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said the Government response had been “too slow, too narrow and too muddled”.
He told the Standard: “The Government has just got the wrong end of the stick here. We’re talking about people fleeing for their lives.
“Asking people to think of a family connection when they’re desperately fleeing for their lives is the wrong question.
“We have to have a safe route for sanctuary for everybody that needs it. We’ve got to play our part coordinated with other countries across Europe.
“But at the moment, the home office is too slow, too narrow and too muddled.
“There are echoes of Afghanistan here, which is a government that doesn’t plan ahead, has not thought this through, reacts only in the heat of the moment, and takes several attempts to improve their position. There’s a pattern of behaviour here.”
