A Ukrainian family who are trying to relocate to Perthshire are at risk of deportation back to their war-torn country.
Martin and Rebekah Hodson of Auchterarder are in touch with Iryna Vekhtieva, and sons Filip and Timofii, who have fled the shelling in Mykolaiv and are currently sleeping in a church in Romania.
The three refugees are hoping to stay with the local couple through the national ‘Homes for Ukraine’ scheme having first made contact with them via friends who run the Galati-based place of worship.
However, having applied for their visas on May 4, Martin says Iryna has heard nothing from the Visas and Immigration Department since a generic email acknowledgment on May 10.
Their deadline for access to the UK is tomorrow (July 9) as the temporary asylum granted by Romania, set at 90 days, will expire, meaning they would be returned to their under-siege homeland.
Martin said: “It is absurd that it can take over two months to process a simple online application process.
“Our belief that we are a welcoming country is undermined when refugees are treated like this.
“The family is permitted to stay in Romania for 90 days whilst seeking refuge from the war in Ukraine.
“This is now day [89] and they are understandably finding this extremely stressful.
“Also one of the boys has experienced illness several times as infections seem to be passed round in the refugee centre where they are staying.
“The sons are aged 16 and 17 so they are perhaps not such an emotive sight as a mother with young children, but they too have been traumatised by the war and deserve a safe place to stay.”
Ochil and South Perthshire MP John Nicolson has contacted the Visas and Immigration Department of the UK Government several times over the last couple of weeks to alert them to the situation.
The SNP representative said: “Perthshire has a warm welcome waiting for refugees fleeing war in Ukraine.
“Many of my constituents have, generously, rushed to open their homes to people seeking sanctuary in our community. The UK Government continues, however, to let them down.
“With regard to this family, my office has asked to have this case expedited on six separate occasions.
“We have contacted the Home Office ‘urgent inquiries line’ several times a week since we were first made aware of the difficulties they’ve been experiencing.
“We have written to the Minister responsible, Lord Harrington.
“We have raised the family’s circumstances with him directly at a virtual meeting and we continue to press the UK government to act.
“It is inexcusable that cases of such urgency are not being dealt with in a timely manner by the Home Office.
“This family has fled Ukraine for their lives. They deserve - and have been promised - sanctuary.
“The UK Government must deliver for families like this and do in private what they promise in public.”
Martin added that the fleeing family has been promised the case will be “escalated” and that someone will report on progress - but none have responded so far.
He added: “With the mother’s permission, I am sharing this story in the hope that wider knowledge of it will motivate Visas and Immigration to sort this out promptly.
“They told me that they just want to get on with the rest of their lives.”
Iryna has sent a number of messages to Martin in recent weeks, highlighting the scale of their hardship.
One read: “In Ukraine we came under shelling and for two weeks we were recovering from stress.
“The children got sick. This is the third time they get sick. They have a sore throat and cough. They are already tired of getting sick. It’s a virus - they infect one another.
“I got sick yesterday. There is a rotavirus, many have been ill, vomiting all day. Today I’m lying [down], my head hurts very much.”
“Our deadline [for a UK visa] is July 9.
“If we run out of time here we will need to apply for temporary protection and if you don’t get temporary protection then you need to return to Ukraine.”
It is understood the case is being reviewed urgently.
A UK Government spokeswoman said: “Applications are usually processed in the order they are received, but cases vary in complexity.
"Where we are made aware of an administrative error we also act swiftly to ensure people have the documents they need to travel to the UK.”
