France has accused Britain of mistreating Ukrainian refugees.
Hundreds of Ukrainians have flocked to the northern French city of Calais in recent days after fleeing Russian invasion, hoping to reunite with relatives in Britain.
“Britain’s response is ‘completely inappropriate’ and shows the ‘inhumanity’ of refugees, who are often anxious,” French Interior Minister Gerald Darwin wrote in a letter to British Home Secretary Preity Patel.
Darwin asked his British counterpart to establish a suitable consular presence in Calais for a visa.
According to the French Interior Minister, in the past few days 400 Ukrainian asylum seekers have introduced themselves at the Calais border crossings, but about 150 of them were told to go and get visas at the British Consulate in Paris or Brussels.
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) says the number of Ukrainian asylum seekers has risen to 368,000 in four days and is likely to rise to 4 million.
After the start of the Russian special military operation, the Ukrainian people are leaving the country in private cars, crowded trains or on foot to enter the neighboring countries. A number of other Ukrainian asylum seekers have also entered Romania, Slovakia and Moldova. Men between the ages of 18 and 60 are not allowed to leave the country to fight.
