Why Is This A Surprise… Or A Problem?

Ukrainians who fled to the UK after the Russian invasion are being refused asylum by the Home Office on the grounds it is safe to return to Ukraine. Families are trying to obtain a route to settlement, which would enable them to build a life in the UK, commit their children to a British education and improve their prospects for jobs and housing. Some feel they have nothing to return to as they are from areas razed by conflict.

The reason it appears to be a problem, and for whom, can be summed up in two words: immigration lawyers.

The firm Sterling Law said it was contacted weekly by Ukrainians, including vulnerable women and children, whose applications had been refused. The firm is working on several appeals, which bring waits of several months during which Ukrainians are left in limbo.Although Ukrainians are able to remain for 18 months through the temporary visa scheme, the uncertainty about their living arrangements is compounding anxiety and distress.

 And foreign immigration lawyers think this is an outrage! 

Halyna Semchak, an immigration lawyer at Sterling Law, said she was working with a single mother from Nikopol, a town which has been largely destroyed, a visually impaired man and the parent of a child born in the UK. Their refusal letters typically state that the conflict-related risks do not meet the threshold for persecution under the refugee convention, as they can relocate to safer parts of Ukraine where there are public services, and they can apply for help from the United Nations high commissioner for refugees (UNHCR) and local organisations to avoid destitution.

So our Home Office is for once doing its job and telling these people ‘the circumstances have changed, so maybe you should go home?’ for once. But if they do, how ever will Halyna make what is probably a very nice living?  

“Legally, these decisions are deeply troubling. They overlook the complex realities on the ground and fail to engage meaningfully with individual circumstances, particularly in light of article 3 and 8 of the European convention on human rights [which protect the rights to protection from harm and to liberty].

And what aboutt the rights of the English taxpayer to not be flooded with every waif and stray in the world, Halyna? I suppose that doesn’t count?