When the sirens go off near her home in war-torn Ukraine, five-year-old Alisa says: “Mummy, let’s hide.”
Alisa and mum Yelyzaveta, 27, are among thousands of Ukrainians kept waiting for their permission to travel to the UK where families have offered them a safe place to stay.
Little Alisa, who is deaf and has cochlear implants, waited over a month for her permission, which finally arrived in an email yesterday after the Mirror contacted the Home Office on her case.
But with her mum still waiting for her own permission they are stuck at their home near the western city of Lviv.
Angie Wilson, 48, waiting to host them in Guisborough, North Yorks, said: “It’s nearly five weeks now. The mum is desperately worried and we’re anxious to get this vulnerable family to safety as quickly as possible. It’s one of the most stressful things I have ever done. I’m waking in the night thinking about it.”
Less than a third of Ukrainian refugees who have been issued with visas have arrived in the UK, Government figures revealed on Wednesday.
A total of 71,800 visas had been issued under the Ukraine Family Scheme and the Homes for Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme. But, as of Monday, just 21,600 Ukrainians had arrived here.
One family is seeking a judicial review into the delays, as the list of “missing” visas compiled by one host reached 879.
Angie joined many sponsor families contacting the Mirror for help.
Former make-up artist Yelyzaveta wrote to her this week telling of the horrors she and Alisa face daily.
She wrote: “We play a game of hide-and-seek when the sirens go off. When we were in the supermarket, a siren came and it’s so scary. But well done Alisa, she says, ‘Mum, let’s hide’.”
Angela’s friends Sarah and Robert Grierson, also from Guisborough, were among the first to apply for the scheme on March 18. They offered to help 16-year-old Kseniia whose parents put out a plea for help getting her to the UK as they stay and fight for their country.
As a deputy head teacher, Robert, 57, has the highest enhanced clearance, yet he and Sarah are still waiting. Sarah, 46, said: “It’s insane. I feel almost guilty and ashamed our government has taken so long to help someone who is in danger.”
Emails with permission to travel are also going missing. Contacting the government on several cases, the Mirror was told the emails had been sent out weeks ago. But the refugees concerned had no idea they had been approved.
Some mums are being granted permission with no news on the children, or the kids have got their permission without their mums, so none of them can travel.
Teacher Rebecca Lewis, 44, from Marlow, Bucks, is sponsoring Mariia, 38, and her kids Vladyslav, four, and Sofia, five. She applied for their visas on March 20, but while Mariia’s has arrived there are none yet for her kids.
Her solicitor served a pre-action protocol for judicial review on the Treasury Solicitor for “intolerable confusion and delay”. Yesterday they got an email suggesting there had been progress and a courier would deliver the travel documents.
Estate agent Sharon Chant, 47, of Bedford, is waiting for Anatassia, 27, her son Bohdan, four, and year-old daughter Lilia. They applied on March 20 and Anatassia is now in Warsaw, Poland, still waiting for visa approval. Sharon said: “My son of 10 summed it up, ‘Boris doesn’t seem to want to help these people’.”
The Government said: “The Home Office has made changes to streamline the application process so thousands of visas are now being granted every day. Applications from families are normally processed together.” It came as Scotland Yard’s War Crimes Team told of harrowing witness accounts from the conflict. The unit, part of the counter-terror commad, is supporting the International Criminal Court probe into alleged war crimes. Det Chief Supt Dominic Murphy said it was “some of the worst possible footage you could imagine seeing”.
Meanwhile the Five Eyes international security network warned Russian hackers are plotting cyber attacks on the NHS, nuclear power plants and Whitehall ministries in response to sanctions on Russia.
