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ONLY a third of Ukrainians who have applied for visas to enter Britain have arrived in the country, official figures reveal.
More than 10,000 people arrived to Britain under Ukraine visa schemes in just over a week, bringing the total number of refugees now living in the country to 37,400, government figures published today show.
As of Thursday, a total of 125,100 Ukrainians had applied for visas, with 95,500 of those granted.
Thirty-three per cent of people who have been granted visas under the Homes for Ukraine scheme have travelled to Britain, up from around a fifth last week.
And 49.3 per cent of those with visas under the family scheme have arrived, up from 45.8 per cent.
While this marks an acceleration from previous weeks, the figures show that tens of thousands of desperate Ukrainians are still waiting for their visas to be processed.
And the majority of Ukrainians, six in 10, who have been issued a visa are yet to arrive in Britain.
The government has repeatedly come under fire over delays to processing visas with reports that hundreds of Ukrainian families have abandoned plans to come to Britain due to delays.
Amnesty International UK’s Steve Valdez-Symonds said the latest figures show the government’s visa schemes are “woefully ineffective for most people for whom they’re supposedly intended.”
He said that Home Secretary Priti Patel’s policies make “all refugees unwelcome,” regardless of whether they are arriving through safe routes or not.
The government’s Homes for Ukraine scheme has faced particular criticism from rights groups which claim that a lack of safeguards has left refugees at risk of abuse and exploitation.