Ukrainian refugees: 'Visas process wakes me in middle of the night'

It is a month since the government launched its Homes for Ukraine scheme but many who have gone through the process are describing difficulties getting visas for the refugees

Government figures show that as of 7 April, 12,500 sponsorship visas had been issued from 43,600 applications but only 1,200 refugees had arrived in the UK so far under the visas.

What is it like for those hoping to provide a safe haven for people fleeing the war in Ukraine?

Jackie Bullen, from Royston in Hertfordshire, is hoping to welcome Natalia and her 23-year-old daughter Mariia.

She said the pair, from Vinnytsia in west-central Ukraine, were "in a fire station made into a refugee camp in Poland, just stuck there waiting to get their visas".

"Everyone is being very kind but it's a difficult environment."

Ms Bullen said when she signed up for the Homes for Ukraine scheme "I assumed the government would match you with people, then I realised that isn't happening".

"I managed to find a group on Facebook, I put up there I'm happy to host and described the accommodation and Natalia got in first."

She said their first conversation was "quite emotional".

"Odessa had its first bombs and they had rockets go over their homes for the first time that day and they were desperately waiting for Mariia's passport," she said.

The 23-year-old student received her passport two days later and they were able to leave Ukraine.

Ms Bullen told the BBC they applied for their visas 10 days ago and "every moment of the day I'm anxious to get them here" but she said the process is "obstructive".

"I'm beyond frustrated. I can't believe a system can't be put in place that's more user-friendly.

"I'm angry and I wake in the middle of the night thinking is there anything more we can do but there isn't, it's down to the Home Office."

Lord Dannatt is sponsoring two people who came from Chernihiv, a mother and her 17-year-old son who is on the autistic spectrum.

The former head of the British army, who lives in south Norfolk, said they crossed the Ukrainian/Polish border on 29 March.

He said they were met by a group from Norfolk who were helping refugees including David Powles, the editor of the Eastern Daily Press, who put them in touch with him.

They are now in Dunkirk and after a trip to Brussels to get the 17-year-old's passport extended "the application has gone in", he said.

Lord Dannatt added: "Whereas other European countries have, open-armed, welcomed a very large numbers of refugees into their country we are applying a quite complicated visa system."

Speaking to Jeremy Vine on BBC Radio 2 he said he travelled to Portcullis House in London as a member of the House of Lords to check on the application process of the two refugees he is sponsoring and four others.

He encourages others waiting for visas to "raise the case to your MP".

"We've still got a very complicated process and it needs to be simplified," he said.

One person who has had success getting visas and refugees to the UK is George Munns, a farmer in the Fens.

A family of five, including a six-year-old girl and twin boys aged two, from central-west Ukraine are due to arrive and move into a house he owns in Chatteris, Cambridgeshire.

"They are in Italy in a hostel, it's a pretty dire situation but it is a safe situation nonetheless," he said.

The farmer has rental properties, one of which was due become vacant in the early part of March, and following the invasion of Ukraine he kept it empty in case a scheme was started.

"I set up a Facebook page and made it known we had this property surplus at the moment."

He said once he found the family, turning others down was "the hardest thing I've ever done in my life".

He said he has been speaking to the family over the two weeks to "keep their morale up because the government takes a long time to sort the visas out".

"It took us three weeks and three days, it was longer than we anticipated," he said.

"I understand the government's concerns but it would be nice if it was quicker.

"It was frustrating, it was worrying because you put in the application and you don't hear anything until you get a result - that was terrible for me."

Although he says the process has been "difficult" he hopes it will be worth it.

"In 20 years time there will be a girl of 26 and two boys of 22 and I would have given them a future and that's why we do it."

A government spokesperson said: "In response to Putin's barbaric invasion we have launched one of the fastest and biggest visa schemes in UK history.

"In just four weeks, over 40,000 visas have been issued so people can rebuild their lives in the UK through the Ukraine Family Scheme and Homes for Ukraine.

"We are continuing to speed up visa processing across both schemes, including boosting caseworkers and simplifying the forms and we expect thousands more to come through these uncapped routes."

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