BBC News 11 March 2022 - by Mary O'Connor
Boris Johnson has defended the UK's response to the refugee crisis and said an upcoming scheme will allow Britons to take Ukrainians into their homes.
He told Sky News the UK would be "generous" to those fleeing Ukraine, and that details of a second visa scheme would be announced on Monday.
Defending the current visa rules, the PM said: "People want us to be generous but also careful."
Unlike the European Union - which is allowing Ukrainians three-year residency without a visa - the UK has retained controls on entry.
A scheme allowing individuals and businesses to sponsor a refugee's visa to the UK was originally promised on 1 March, along with the other main route for Ukrainians to get to the UK, which launched last week and allows refugees to join relatives already settled in Britain.
The government has come under mounting pressure to do more to take in refugees fleeing Ukraine. Poland has already taken in 1.4 million refugees.
Speaking on Sky News' Beth Rigby Interviews programme, Mr Johnson said "historically and by nature", the British people are "very generous, open and welcoming".
Defending the need to check biometric data - such as fingerprints - he said: "People want us to be generous but also careful," adding security measures were "light touch" and "sensible given the attitudes of the Putin regime towards the UK".
He said this would also be the "best thing for refugees, because they want a scheme that is safe, that is welcoming and that works".
Challenged on why the checks would be needed for children - who are estimated to make up around half of the two million refugees fleeing Russia's invasion of Ukraine - he said these requirements did not apply to younger people.
But pressed on why just 1,000 family visas had been issued so far, Mr Johnson said the number would "rise very sharply".
He added that on Monday, the Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Secretary Michael Gove would announce details of the second visa scheme, which he said would mean that "if people want to welcome [them] into their own homes, they can do so".
Refugee plans begin to take shape
The government is keen to avoid some of the problems of the scheme designed to help Afghans fleeing after the Taliban took back power, with thousands of people still stuck in hotels without temporary accommodation.
The Home Office will still administer the provision of visas, with the levelling up department taking responsibility for what happens once the refugees are here.
It's not impossible that the offer, expected to be detailed on Monday, could result in many thousands of Ukrainians coming here.
With more than two million people on the move as a result of the war, the need is plain.
Like the family visa scheme, which has already been extended under political pressure, the sponsorship route is not expected to have a limit.
How many Ukrainians end up in the UK may rest therefore, in part, on the willingness of the British people to open their homes.
Read more of Laura's analysis here.
Ministers and officials met on Thursday afternoon to discuss the plan, in which refugee groups are expected to be involved in finding suitable host individuals or organisations - such as families or church groups.
It is anticipated that those offering accommodation will be expected to commit to a minimum of six months.
Ukrainians entering through this new route are expected to be allowed to stay for a year initially and will be entitled to work, claim benefits and access public services.
Ahead of the scheme's launch, Krish Kandiah, a government adviser on the care system, said 2,000 people and organisations had signed up to help Ukrainian refugees settle in the UK through his Sanctuary Foundation.
He told BBC Breakfast that he understood people would be able to offer homes to Ukrainians they already knew personally or they could be matched by the government with refugees.
Anyone coming to the UK under the scheme will still require a visa and the Home Office has said it has simplified the application process.
It comes after an earlier announcement by Home Secretary Priti Patel that, from Tuesday, Ukrainian refugees with valid passports will be able to apply for visas online without submitting biometric information until they reach the UK.
The change - which Ms Patel said had the approval of the security services - would only affect people applying under the family scheme.
Pop-up visa application centre opening
From Phil Mackie in Arras, France
The Préfecture du Pas-de-Calais has announced where the "pop-up" visa processing centre for Ukrainian refugees will be.
There had been reports it would be in Lille, but it's in Arras, in France, which is one hour from Calais, two from Brussels and three from Paris.
French authorities say it is expected to start operating on Friday.
Many of the hundreds of Ukrainians who are in northern France have spent the past week travelling to the French and Belgian capitals to submit biometric information and documentation.
Many have already been processed and it's thought most will be by next Tuesday, when the process becomes simpler and will move online.
The Foreign Office also confirmed on Thursday that all Ukrainian staff working for the British embassy and British Council in Ukraine plus their dependents are also able to come to the UK.
However, the speed of the UK's response to taking in Ukrainian refugees has been criticised, with Labour's shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper calling it a "total disgrace".
Ms Cooper asked why it had taken "being hauled into the House of Commons to make basic changes to help vulnerable people who are fleeing from Ukraine?"
The British Red Cross said the fastest means of solving the problem would be to remove visa requirements, while the Refugee Council said Ms Patel's announcement "does not go anywhere near far enough".
Additional reporting by Adam Durbin
