Plaid Cymru’s Westminster leader, Liz Saville Roberts MP, today renewed calls on the Prime Minister to waive all visa rules for Ukrainians after she told the House of Commons that 173 Ukrainian staff of the British International School are stuck in Kyiv and Dnipro.

A constituent employed by the school wrote to the Dwyfor Meirionnydd MP urging the UK Government to waive visa rules for Ukrainians, in line with measures taken by European Union countries.

The school, which has campuses in the capital Kyiv and the eastern city of Dnipro, employs around 60 British citizens, most of whom were able to escape in a school bus over the weekend.

However, the school also employs 173 Ukrainian colleagues who are unable to leave due to a lack of a humanitarian corridor. They are ineligible for the humanitarian sponsorship pathway announced by the Home Secretary yesterday, due to the school being domiciled in Ukraine.

Speaking in the House of Commons, Liz Saville Roberts MP said:

“My Wales-based constituent who works for British International School in Ukraine. The school employs around 60 British citizens, most of whom thankfully escaped via a bus over the weekend.

“I heard the Prime Minister’s response earlier on to the leader of the SNP (Ian Blackford MP). But given the lack of a humanitarian corridor, 173 Ukrainian colleagues from that school are stuck in Kyiv and Dnipro and are ineligible for the Home Office’s humanitarian sponsorship pathway due to the school being domiciled in Ukraine.

“Wales aspires to be a Nation of Sanctuary. Our neighbours in Ireland have waived all visa requirements for three years. Why won’t he allow us to provide the same humanitarian welcome?”

The Prime Minister responded that “the whole House will want to welcome those 173 people” and said that “people should be proud of what the UK has already done” in welcoming people fleeing conflicts since 2015.

However, the UK has been much less generous than other countries since 2015, with Germany, for example, making more positive asylum decisions in 2019 alone – over 70,000 – than the UK did in the six years from 2015 to 2020 combined, at just under 66,000.

Speaking after the session, Liz Saville Roberts MP added: “77 per cent of people want the UK government to waive visa requirements for Ukrainians fleeing war – but this Government is continuing to refuse to match the compassion of other European nations.

“It is high time that the Conservative government consign their politicisation of the rights of refugees to the dustbin of history and welcome people based on their humanitarian needs and their intrinsic worth as human beings.”