Former housing secretary Robert Jenrik has accepted a Ukrainian refugee family under a government scheme, but said the process was “too bureaucratic”.
The New York Tory MP received 40-year-old Maria and her two children, Christina, 11, and Boden, 15, earlier this week, and is believed to be the first MP to accept refugees under the Homes for Ukraine scheme.
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2:28 Ukrainian families disappointed with the government scheme
The former cabinet minister, who lives with his wife and three children, criticized the scheme, saying it could have been simplified.
“I think the process has been too bureaucratic, and I think the Home Office often falls into this trap,” he said in a podcast of Chopper’s Daily Telegraph.
“There were simple things we could and should have done from the beginning, such as the Ukrainian form, for example.
Speaking about the visa process, he added: “The truth is that the start of the scheme was uneven. It took too long to get visas, it took us about three weeks to get all three visas approved.”
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Jenrik added that the father of the family was staying in Ukraine to support the military effort and that the process took about three weeks to obtain the three required visas.
The Homes for Ukraine scheme, which opened on March 18, allows Britons to accept Ukrainian refugees, even if they have no previous ties to the United Kingdom.
Anyone who has a room or a home for at least six months can offer it to a Ukrainian person or family, with the hosts being screened and Ukrainian refugees being subjected to security checks.
Read more: “Shambolic” bureaucracy that prevents refugees from coming to the UK
Government figures show that as of Wednesday, 25,100 visas had been issued under the scheme of 55,600 applications.
However, only 12.7% of visa holders have arrived in the United Kingdom.
The scheme has been criticized for its slow implementation, leading to an apology from Interior Minister Priti Patel.
The UN refugee agency has also expressed concern about the risks to women in the scheme, adding that it is aware of “increasing” reports of refugee women feeling at risk from male sponsors.
More than 200,000 people in the UK have applied for refuge under the scheme.
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