Robert Jenrick
(Picture: PA Wire)Robert Jenrick has become among the first MPs to take a Ukrainian family into his home.
The former Cabinet minister said that red tape in the scheme had “tested the patience” of both sponsors and the families fleeing war.
Speaking to the Chopper’s Politics podcast, he called on the Home Office to stop forcing children to fill out separate forms to come to the UK and allow them to be filled out in Ukrainian.
Mr Jenrick is thought to be the first MP to welcome a Ukrainian family under a specific Home Office scheme.
Victoria Prentis, the environment minister, is known to have taken in 25-year-old Ukrainian refugee, Vika, under an existing visitor visa scheme.
The Newark MP’s family welcomed Maria, 40, and her two children, Christina, 11, and Boden, 15, at Stansted airport earlier this week.
The families are now living together in his Nottinghamshire constituency.
He said he had not done anything to speed up the process, saying it was right the scheme makes British sponsors be their own match-makers for those they may wish to host.
However, he told the podcast: “I do think the process has been overly bureaucratic and I think the Home Office often falls into this trap.
“There were simple things that we could and should have done from the outset, like having the form in Ukrainian, for example.
“And I’m not sure whether you need to be doing checks on minors who are extremely unlikely to be a threat to this country.”
Speaking about meeting the family for the first time, Mr Jenrick said it was “emotional”.
He said: “They are children of not dissimilar ages to ours, and a mother who’s left her husband back home and made this extraordinary decision... to leave home and come to another country in order to protect her children.
He added: “It’s been very rewarding to see them feeling safe at last after a very traumatic experience and beginning to stabilise them and rebuild their lives.”
Two specific visa schemes have been put in place by the government for Ukrainian refugees, a scheme for those with existing family connections to the UK, and the ‘Homes for Ukraine’ scheme.
The Government has come under criticism that the process is bureaucratic and slow, with visas not translating into arrivals quickly enough.
Last week, the Home Secretary, Priti Patel, apologised “with frustration” over the schemes.
She said “it takes time to start up a new route,” and insisted that security checks were not the reason behind the time it is taking for Ukrainian refugees to reach the UK.
