Julian calls for more action to help Ukrainian refugees
March 8, 2022
At an Urgent Question today, Member of Parliament for York Outer, Julian Sturdy, called for the Home Office to speed up the United Kingdom’s efforts to welcome refugees from war torn Ukraine by abandoning the bureaucracy that has led to a backlog of applications.
Last week, Julian was one of the first backbenchers to write to the Home Secretary to call for refugees to be welcomed without condition and to offer safe refuge for those who need it the most (https://twitter.com/JulianSturdy/status/1498225746011201544). While the Government have since expanded those eligible for the resettlement scheme and begun to roll out other avenues for asylum, Julian believes that the pace of action is far too slow.
Julian reiterated his commitment to providing unequivocal, unrelenting and unlimited support for Ukraine at the York Stands With Ukraine rally in St Helen’s Square on Saturday. Together with residents, Julian called for more to be done to allow cities like York to play their part in welcoming Ukrainian refugees.
In the House of Commons today, Julian pressed the Home Office Minister for further action in his question while praising the generosity of constituents:
“Like many others, my inbox has been overwhelmed by generous offers of support for Ukrainian families. My constituents are ready and willing to offer help to those in need. The only barrier to their support is Home Office bureaucracy.
Now is not the time for box ticking and red tape. Now is the tine to do everything we can. No more excuses. We have to move the process forward, we have to speed it up. Weeks is simply not good enough. These are women and children, we have to speed it up!
Can he assure me these kind offers of help from my constituents and constituents from across the House are not going to be wasted.”
Speaking after the Urgent Question, Julian reflected on the mood of colleagues:
“It was reassuring to see that backbenchers from all parties are united in their calls for more to be done to aid Ukrainian refugees. While I believe the Government have well-meaning concerns, in practice current systems are causing unjustifiable delays.
We need a system for accepting refugees that matches our generosity in providing economic and humanitarian aid to Ukraine. This can only be achieved by removing conditions for refugees like our European neighbours. The time to act is now, we must never abdicate our responsibility to help Ukrainians in their hour of need.”
