When Sophie Alkarnaz from Swansea met Iryna Ovchar from Ukraine while working at a kids club on a cruise ship more than eight years ago, Sophie immediately knew the pair would become firm friends - but never realised just how important their friendship could truly become.
But, struck by the awful situation in Ukraine following Russia's war on the country, Sophie knew she wanted to help however she could - and soon contacted Iryna to offer her home to her, and her five-year-old daughter, so they could escape the war and settle in the UK under the Homes For Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme.
Despite filling in the application form for sponsorship almost three weeks ago, however, neither Sophie nor Iryna have heard back from the UK Government. And the pair are becoming increasingly concerned about Iryna and her young daughter Zlata's safety. Whilst Russia announced it would scale-back military operations near Kyiv on Tuesday, March 29, multiple explosions were heard that night and into the early hours of Wednesday morning in the capital and in other cities.
Currently, Iryna and little Zlata are stuck at home in a small town in Western Ukraine. Whilst they did still have their flat, nowhere was safe, Iryna said, and every day and night, she and her daughter hear the loud shrill of a siren, warning them to run to their nearest bunker to hide for hours. For the pair, this means scrambling into a concrete bunker in the basement of their building and spending hours cooped up with neighbours "waiting for this to be over".
And it would be over already - if the UK government were to respond to their application for a visa to come to the UK and be "sponsored" by British national Sophie. Under the Homes for Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme, Ukrainian nationals not fighting in the war are invited to apply for a visa to live and work in the UK, if they either have family here or a friend who can "sponsor" them and offer them a place to live for a minimum of six months.
Sophie, aged 31, a stay-at-home mum-of-two who has two children with her husband, aged four and two, and lives in Treboeth, has offered the pair a home in Swansea for at least six months and has pledged to help Iryna find a job and settle into her new life in Wales - a country they've never visited before, but one that the pair are keen to call their new home. She said she was "desperate" to support the pair and hoped their applications would have been been approved already, but said they had been left in a state of limbo by the UK Government.
Whilst Sophie and Iryna filled in the application for the Sponsorship Scheme almost three weeks ago, and received an automatic email reply to say they'd have a response in a few days, they are yet to hear anything about their application.
"I'm her only lifeline out of Ukraine," Sophie said. " 10,000 people have applied to house Ukrainian people in Wales - why can't we let them in? There seems to be no timescale for applications. We applied on March 18 and the government said it would be a few days before we'd hear back, but we've not heard anything at all. The scheme is absolutely slow, ridiculous and shameful to 'GREAT' Britain!
"I don't see what the delay is, Priti Patel and Michael Gove say they [Ukrainian nationals] can come to the UK, but they're making it really difficult for them to enter. Iryna will have to leave her mum and dad behind, but she'll be able to bring her five-year-old daughter to safety. I'm a mum myself and I can't imagine if we had to suddenly pack up everything in bags and just flee.
"We've had zero help and zero information. We filled in the application and heard nothing back. I've offered a home, support, help in finding Iryna a job. I'm willing to help with everything - there shouldn't be so much red tape!"
In an email to WalesOnline, Iryna said the immigration forms and Home for Ukraine applications took several hours to fill-in and apart from an automatic email confirming receipt of application, she'd received no information about the status of her application - or when she could expect to leave Ukraine, if approved.
She said: "Due to this difficult situation in Ukraine, a lot of my fellow citizens had to flee the country. My small town on the west of Ukraine, it's relatively quiet, and cannot be compared to what is going on in the East. Quiet, but nowhere is safe now. Couple of times a day and night siren sounds, which means real danger is close and we have to grab our emergency bags (containing passports, medications, water and other important stuff) and run to the nearest bunker, which, in my case, is a basement in our building. And there you can spend hours with neighbours waiting for this to be over."
"My city is small but there is a military base, along with a Demining Training Centre and most of my neighbours are military," she added. "So when I go to the playground with my daughter, we often see our men in uniforms and fully armed. And that is our everyday reality, that is what our children see.
"Sophie is a good friend of mine, we used to work together on a cruise ship. So many people around the world texted me since the war started, supporting me and offering help. But, frankly, the real help came from one person, and that is Sophie from Wales.
"Her support came with a real offer to go to Wales, where she can accept me and my daughter. We do not have any family ties, so I could not participate in Family Scheme, launched by the UK Government earlier in March. My only option was to wait until the Sponsorship Scheme opened for registration, and it happened on March 18, as it was promised."
'We Ukrainians will be eternally thankful to the entire United Kingdom'
Iryna continued: "The system is fresh, created specially for Ukrainians, who are willing to find a safe haven in the UK. For every member of your family there should be a separate application. So I spent around two to three hours filling in the forms for me and my daughter Zlata.
"There are many questions, and, no complaints, it is understandable, since it is concerning safety of your country. After everything was filled in, I attached our scanned passports, my daughter’s birth certificate, translated in English and bank verification proving that I was living on the territory of Ukraine. Next day I received an automated message saying: [We have received your application]. And after that, nothing. There is no more information for [more than] 12 days now."
Iryna said she knew of many other Ukrainian nationals who applied for the sponsorship scheme on March 18, the day the scheme opened, and hadn't heard back from the UK Government, but some who applied a few days later had heard back. She said children appeared to be hearing back from the UK Government before their mothers and other adults - but she hadn't heard about her daughter or herself.
"In this long procedure, separate attention should be paid to UK sponsors, who have been extremely helpful and supportive along the way," she added. "Families who are really fighting for us, for Ukrainians. There are literally no right words in this world to express our gratitude to these people who are willing to accept complete strangers in their houses. They are waiting for us with their open hearts and doors. And for that we, Ukrainians, will be eternally thankful to the entire United Kingdom."
She added that she'd heard of some UK residents whose homes had been rejected for the sponsorship scheme - but that tidiness of a property was not something Ukrainians were worried about.
"When I hear that the sponsor’s house has been inspected and some minor things did not meet the standards, and, as the result, accommodation was not approved, I just want to say one thing to inspectors: 'Here in Ukraine people live in a cold bunker! We appreciate such a scrupulousness and wish to welcome us in the best conditions, but it is not the most important thing right now'. Believe me, anything is better than a bunker, and there is no more precious thing, than peace and safety!"
What did the UK Government say?
WalesOnline contacted the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, formerly known as the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government, for an update on Iryna and Zlata's applications but was advised that the department did not comment on the status of individual applications.
However, the Department did share a statement from refugees minister Lord Harrington, which said: "The response of the British public has been incredible, opening their hearts and homes to the people of Ukraine, and we must do everything we can to make the most of this extraordinary generosity.
"We are starting to see progress because of changes the Home Office made to streamline the visa process and put additional resources into the system. However, we need to do more and will be making further improvements to bring people to the UK as quickly as possible. I look forward to welcoming more families and ensuring they have the support they need when they arrive."
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