Homes for Ukraine: Visas for 210 Ukrainians to flee to Scotland

Visas have been issued for 210 Ukrainians to travel to Scotland under the Homes for Ukraine scheme.

About 32,200 applications have been made to the UK government scheme, which is open to refugees with a named sponsor.

However, with more than four million Ukrainians displaced by war, the First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said the figure was "woefully small".

The UK government said applications were processed as quickly as possible.

Since the Homes for Ukraine sponsorship scheme launched on 14 March, a total of 4,700 visas - less than 15% of applications - have been issued in the UK.

Another 24,000 visas - about 75% of the 32,800 applications - have been issued to Ukrainians with family in the UK under a separate scheme.

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The aim of Homes for Ukraine was to allow individuals, charities, community groups and other organisations to sponsor refugees, housing them in their homes or buildings.

The Scottish government said it wanted to be a "super sponsor" of Ukrainian refugees, and vowed to provide people fleeing the war with temporary accommodation until a longer-term place can be found.

A total 210 visas have been issued through the scheme so far - 180 visas to those who had an individual sponsor in Scotland, and 30 who had applied to be sponsored through the Scottish government's super sponsor initiative.

'Woefully small' number of visas granted

Speaking after the new figures were published on Friday, Nicola Sturgeon said the figure "isn't good enough".

"The process of translating applications into visas is unacceptably slow," she added.

"The UK government is letting the people of Ukraine down and also letting down people across Scotland who have opened their homes."

The UK requires the refugees to have a visa before they enter, unlike other European countries which have waived the checks to speed things up.

Ms Sturgeon added: "It is neither reasonable nor morally acceptable to expect people fleeing a brutal invasion to go through the bureaucratic processes being put in their way and wait weeks to be given a visa.

"We have called for the need for visas to be waived [by the UK government] so displaced people could immediately reach a place of safety, just as our European neighbours have done."

A spokesman for the UK government said: "We are moving as quickly as possible to ensure that those fleeing Ukraine can find safety in the UK through the Ukraine Family Scheme and Homes for Ukraine.

"We have streamlined the process so valid passport holders do not have to attend in-person appointments before arriving in the UK, simplified our forms and boosted caseworker numbers, while ensuring vital security checks are carried out.

"We continue to speed up visa processing across both schemes, with over 29,000 visas issued in the last three weeks alone and thousands more expected to come through these uncapped routes."

The UN refugee agency said more than four million refugees have now fled Ukraine since Russia launched its war, in the biggest refugee crisis since World War Two.

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