Man from Jersey helps sister-in-law fleeing from Ukraine

A man has travelled to Poland's border with Ukraine to help his sister-in-law with visa documents so she can seek refuge in Jersey.

Olga Moroz fled Kiev by bus and car when there were "bombs falling on the city".

Matt Palmer and Ms Moroz are now in Warsaw waiting to apply for a UK visa so she can travel to Jersey.

Mr Palmer said they could be waiting for up to three weeks before they get an appointment.

"There are hundreds of people here queuing for visas, but the visa and immigration service are saying they are only processing those with appointments, the next appointment is three weeks away," Mr Palmer said.

"Getting out is only the first step, the next step is to find some stability and rebuild their lives, we have to sort this out and give people the opportunity to come to the UK."

Mr Palmer said Ms Moroz was "happy to be away from the explosions and not having to hide in the basement".

"She will be happier when she gets the visa sorted and can come home with us, it is difficult leaving home and then being stuck in a hotel in Poland," he said.

Mr Palmer said Jersey had been "fantastic in this crisis".

"There's a limit to what Jersey can do, Jersey has been fantastic in this crisis, they have supported the changes in the visa systems to allow family members like my sister-in-law to come and stay with us, I think its response has been exemplary, the challenge is to turn around an immigration system, its very much up to the UK," he said.

Ms Moroz plans to stay in Jersey with her sister and brother-in-law until it is "safe to go home".

Speaking to BBC Breakfast, the defence secretary Ben Wallace said the UK's visa scheme for Ukrainian refugees was "generous" but conceded "we can...and will do more".

He said: "We need to upscale it. I know that the home secretary has already doubled, or trebled in some cases, more people in different processing centres."

Mr Wallace told the Today programme the Home Secretary Priti Patel had effectively "set up a pop-up visa centre in Poland closer to the border of Ukraine" and was working to accelerate the processing of visas.

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