Ukrainian family are stuck facing air strikes due to visa problems
A UKRAINIAN family have been unable to escape the war to come to Yorkshire because visas have not been issued to their two children, despite being issued to the parents.
Huddersfield couple Terry and Huw Evans are sponsoring parents Valentina and Sergii and their young children Demi and Max to allow them to escape the fighting in Ukraine. But Demi and Max have now been waiting a month to get their visas so they can travel.
In the meantime, Terry said the family is living through air strikes in terror in their home Khmelnytskyi but have ‘nowhere to go’ until the children can travel. They have been left only able to tell Terry and Huw what they are going through as they speak through Whats App every day.
Terry, who lives in Holmfirth, told the Examiner: “I think it’s almost become normalised for them. They’re still in their home with rockets flying overhead, air raids, explosions, and somehow that has become normalised. They can still get food but everything has doubled in price. There’s no petrol anywhere.
“Sergii and Valentina are terrified their children will get killed, and Valentina is also terrified she will never see Sergii again. It’s awful and completely incomprehensible. We don’t know how to get the process sped up.
“They can still take the kids to the park but work is much harder. They’re trying to keep things as normal as they can for their children while they wait day by day and things are getting worse. I can only imagine how traumatising it is for them all, especially the kids. It makes me so angry and heartbroken.
“It’s strange to me that kids even have to have visas in this situation. They should just be able to come in with the parent. We speak to the family every day and have done for nearly a month. We WhatsApp them, talk to them, do videos, they’re really keen to come. They feel like part of the family.”
Terry said Sergii and Valentina had their visa applications approved two weeks ago, but Valentina can’t leave to come to the Holme Valley until Max and Demi are approved too. They have been sending Terry and Huw pictures of craters in their hometown, south west of Kyiv.
Rebecca Gough,
a founding volunteer for the Holme Valley Homes for Ukraine group, said they are seeing many families in similar situations.
Because of the delays, Rebecca said, many Ukrainian families have since pulled out of the scheme due to the difficulties – in their area 40 out of 160 travelling families have since given up.
Rebecca told the Examiner: “It’s been a nightmare. There are so many cases where we’re missing visas – in quite a few cases one or two family members will be missing one and obviously, that means the family can’t travel and may as well not have the visas.
“These families are either out of Ukraine living with limited resources or in Ukraine being bombed. I’ve spoken to people at 2am in the morning while you can hear bombs and they’re just having to wait.
“We’ve had families we’ve lost contact with and we don’t know if they’re alive or dead. We’ve had
They’re still in their home with rockets flying overhead, air raids, explosions, and somehow that has become normalised
Terry Evans