Ex-MP calls for Ukraine refugee visa improvements

Some 4.5 million people have fled Ukraine after the Russian invasion

An ex-MP who will host a Ukrainian family says the visa application system is too slow and fiddly for refugees escaping the war.

Helen Goodman, who was Labour MP for Bishop Auckland from 2005 to 2019, said the Homes for Ukraine scheme needed to be made "much easier".

She will host a mother and two children to "give them some stability".

The government said "progress approving visas had not been good enough" but "greater resource had gone in".

Ms Goodman said other European countries are giving Ukrainians sanctuary without the need for a visa but the British government had "decided everybody must go through the process of applying" for one.

• How do the UK's schemes for Ukrainian refugees work?

She told BBC Radio Tees her side of things involved signing up to the government's register which was "really straightforward and easy".

But refugees have to fill in visa application forms online detailing every person seeking sanctuary and immediate relations staying in Ukraine.

Helen Goodman is one of the more than 100,000 people to have registered to host Ukrainian refugees

"The reason this is a problem for people in Ukraine is they have just escaped, they haven't got anything on them," Ms Goodman said, adding: "Uploading documents like a photograph of your passport on a mobile phone when you're in a place with dodgy internet connection, this is not a good system.

"They have to upload details of each person coming and details of the sponsor. The [government] should say 'OK this is a mum with two kids, we will have one form for that family'.

"The government has got to improve that computer system. It's so fiddly."

Ms Goodman said she was moved my pictures of Ukrainians fleeing their bomb-damaged homes

Ms Goodman said seeing images of people fleeing the Russian invasion was "dreadful" and she "just wanted to do what I could to support a family in what is the ultimate hour of need".

She said: "I'm just here to give them a base to start, give them some stability and rest and not to feel that they are being permanently moved about."

A government spokesman said improvements would "allow us to welcome people faster" while still carrying out security checks and addressing human trafficking.

Government figures show that as of 31 March, 4,700 sponsorship visas had been issued from 32,200 applications.