THE Home Office is “incapable” of responding to the scale of Ukraine’s refugee crisis, a rights group said after it emerged only 50 Ukrainians have been granted visas so far. 

This figure equates to about 1 per cent of the 5,535 Ukrainian citizens who have applied for the government’s new family visa scheme since it was launched last Friday. 

The Home Office’s approach has been too slow and too bureaucratic to address the rapidly escalating crisis, which has seen an estimated 1.3 million Ukrainian’s flee the country in just over a week, Amnesty International UK said. 

“History is repeating itself – the UK’s response to last year’s crisis in Afghanistan was also botched, with begrudging and inadequate preparations that led to an emergency evacuation and a lack of competence or commitment in its aftermath,” the organisation’s refugee and migrant rights director Steve Valdez-Symonds said.

“Instead of persisting with its insistence on visas or on sponsorship schemes for traumatised Ukrainians fleeing an active war zone, Britain should be putting in place fast-track refugee arrangements.”

Freedom from Torture chief executive Sonya Sceats said: “The fact that only 50 visas have been granted to Ukrainian refugees shows the dangers of insisting on visa-based schemes when the whole point of the Refugee Convention is to allow people to run to safety and claim asylum on arrival.”

Refugee Action head of campaigns Mariam Kemple Hardy said the lack of an effective plan to help people fleeing Russia’s invasion was “shameful.” 

“Ministers have systematically torn apart our refugee protection system and left it totally unprepared to respond effectively to any crisis – whether in Afghanistan or Ukraine,” she said. 

On top of the 5,535 online applications that have been submitted, 2,368 people have booked a visa appointment which is required in order to submit their application and biometric details, the Home Office said.  

Currently, only Ukrainian citizens with links to Britain can enter the country through two visa routes — the family visa scheme and sponsorship scheme. 

In contrast, the European Union has allowed all Ukrainians to enter the bloc without visas and to sort out paperwork after their arrival. 

Refugee Council chief executive Enver Solomon said: “Without a clear commitment to provide a safe route to any Ukrainian who wants to come to the UK, the government’s offer looks uncaring and heartless compared to our EU neighbours’.”