A four-year-old Ukrainian girl has been denied access to the UK despite the fact she has a sponsor in North Staffordshire.
Alika Zubets was denied a visa for the second time and was considered to be an 'unaccompanied minor' by the government, even though she was travelling with her parents and grandmother Tanya Zubets. Last month, the government announced it would begin processing unaccompanied children as long as certain safeguarding measures were achieved.
Tanya arrived at a sponsor's home in Audley and was poised to return to Ukraine to collect Alika once her documents were issued. Alika's sponsor, Dr Maggie Babb, was even told last week that the young girl's visa was approved, StokeOnTrent Live reports.
However, government officials are now saying the visa was approved in error, meaning Alika cannot come to the UK. Maggie, a paediatric anaesthetist at Royal Stoke University Hospital, is trying to overturn the refusal and bring Alika to safety.
According to the latest government guidelines, potential sponsors for an unaccompanied child must have known them before the war started on February 24 this year. However, it also states: "In exceptional circumstances, councils may determine that the sponsor does not need to be personally known to the parent or legal guardian, for example, where the council judge that a child will be cared for appropriately by an adult relative who the parent or legal guardian has asked to take on the day-to-day caring responsibility for their child and who will live with their child in the UK."
Maggie is now campaigning to Staffordshire County Council to approve arrangements due to the fact that Alika's grandmother has temporary notarised legal guardianship of the four-year-old and will be living with her at Maggie's home. Maggie, who has five children of her own ranging from 12 years old to 22, said: "We had been trying to find out where we had to pick up Alika's visa from so we could make her travel arrangements, but then a woman from the Home Office rang me to say it had been issued in error.
"We were so close and it has been snatched away. I am speechless. Tania and her family are extremely anxious about it all. It's potentially very tragic and she must be thinking about it every waking moment.
"If Alika is stuck in Kharkiv and gets killed, how could we ever live with that? I feel like I have a relationship with this little girl that I have never met and if anything happens to her I will be devastated."
Previously, Alika's extended family in Newcastle campaigned to allow her to come to the UK after she and Tanya fled to Polan with her parents' written consent in March. She was granted a 90-day visa on April 12 but was heavily delayed.
Following this, Tanya, whose right to remain in Poland was set to expire on June 25, was forced to take Alika to Kyiv where they met her mum Arena who looks after her own disabled mother. After spending an hour together, Arena and Alika returned to Kharkiv by train.
While Alika's parents had to stay in Kharkiv due to father Dima being unable to leave the country, Tanya's cousin Oksana lives in Newcastle with her husband Karl Stubbs and Oksana's parents. Karl, who is the chair of the Newcastle branch of the Association of Ukrainians in Great Britain, said: "We are all disappointed by the latest twist.
"We cannot understand the reasoning behind the decision and we are astounded by the lack of compassion. We are dismayed by the inefficiency of the Home Office and the lack of communication, mixed messages and misinformation.
"We remain hopeful however that someone in authority will eventually see sense and cut through the red tape."
A spokesperson for the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities, which oversees the Homes for Ukraine scheme said that the department is 'aware of the issue and is working with MP Aaron Bell to get it resolved'. He added: "We have a responsibility to keep children safe and have put in place strong safeguarding measures to protect them once they arrive in the UK.
“The sponsor should, wherever possible, be personally known to the parents. However, local authorities will review cases and can choose to make exceptions where it is in the best interest of the child.”
Victoria Wilson, cabinet member for communities at Staffordshire County Council, said: "We’re continuing to work hard to ensure everything is in place to welcome refugees from Ukraine across Staffordshire and to support them when they are here. No minors have been declined support from us, and we are currently getting ready to deal with these new responsibilities regarding minors coming from Ukraine. We will be looking at each individual case as they come to us."
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