UK visa rules are ‘to ensure Ukrainians don’t come to Britain’, say refugees

British volunteers in Warsaw station give out information to Ukrainians on how to apply to come to the UK. ‘It’s very complicated,’ says Katerina Ilasova. Photograph: Mark Rice-Oxley/The Guardian

Ukrainian refugees in Poland are frustrated and confused by British asylum rules, which they say appear designed more to keep people out than offer shelter to those fleeing war.

Refugees arriving at Warsaw central station told the Guardian that they were baffled by the UK government’s rules requiring them to find a sponsor in Britain before they could apply for a visa, which could take weeks to be processed. None said they knew anyone in the UK who could sponsor them.