One of the most immediate consequences of conflicts and crisis is often displacement, as people seek safety. The crisis in Ukraine means substantial numbers of people may flee the country to seek refuge overseas.
It’s difficult to predict how many Ukrainians will seek asylum in the UK. This will depend on a number of important and unpredictable factors such as the scale, duration and humanitarian consequences of the conflict.
There is no visa for people of any nationality to travel to the UK to make a claim for asylum, so Ukrainians who wanted to do this would generally need to enter through irregular (and sometimes dangerous) means. Some civil society organisations have called on the UK government to offer a resettlement scheme to Ukrainian refugees, as it did for Afghan citizens in August 2021 and Syrians in 2015.
