Families in a Nottinghamshire village have shared their anger at delays in the government's scheme to house Ukrainian refugees in the UK. Households in Burton Joyce have criticised the slow processing of the Government's Homes for Ukraine scheme, with refugees "on the the brink of survival" waiting for answers.
Nataly Stevens, 49, moved to Burton Joyce from Ukraine in 1999 and recently received two visas for her mum and brother who had been forced to leave Russian occupied Kherson. She has also been helping households in Burton Joyce undertake the process to host refugees. But she says her 'heartbreaking' wait for two sponsored visas for Olena Amirchanova and her daughter Yeva from Mukolaiv, Southern Ukraine, which she applied for on March 27, is mirrored by other families in the village who want to offer safe haven to fleeing refugees.
"We formed a group in Burton Joyce in collaboration with Nottinghamshire Council, a group of people who wanted to house refugees from Ukraine," she said. "I believe I was the first person to invite two Ukrainian people, and we applied on March 27, shortly after it [Homes for Ukraine] and we have been waiting ever since.
Read more: Ukrainian refugees granted visas to live in Nottinghamshire
"All we have got back is a message that the visas are 'ready for consideration' and nothing more than that, no information or timescale. 'Consideration' means nothing really it seems. To make them wait is not understandable, they have all the documents and everything in terms of checks has been completed. It is awful not knowing what is happening - and all of the people who are ready to house refugees in Burton Joyce will be facing the same problems and delays."
Olena and her daughter Yeva, who escaped the Russian attack on their hometown of Mukolaiv, are currently sleeping on mattresses in a sports hall in Romania. Ms Stevens that she had been led to believe the timescale for visa processing was officially 5-10 days, but this had already been and gone.
Ms Stevens, who works as a musician, said: "These people managed to escape Mukolaiv during several hours of calm where buses could arrive, ever since cluster bombs have been falling in their town and rockets. Hell broke loose and they escaped before travelling non stop to Romania. They are in no man's land because they can not come over here and they cannot go home.
"These people are still traumatised from what they experienced, every night they were fearing for their lives and had no one to go. While we have no answers, there are people on the brink of survival, desperate for our help.
"The main problem is that people have gone through a lot of hardship, they literally have no money, so when they go to neighbouring countries they are relying on what help they can get. It's a very stressful situation, these people have very little with them in terms of possessions or clothes and basic things.
"We are talking about profession people established in their own country who have found themselves in this heart-breaking situation. I have contacted local authorities, my MP, I don't know what to do anymore it seems like the Home Office is like a fortress. I am prepared to help more people, it is personal for me, but I am doing all I can but I don't see any return from the Government."
The Homes for Ukraine was launched on March 14, and is being organised by the department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities. A government spokesperson said: “We continue to process visas for the Homes for Ukraine scheme as quickly as possible, but accept progress has not been quick enough.
"The Home Office has made changes to visa processing – the application form has been streamlined, Ukrainian passport holders can now apply online and do their biometrics checks once in the UK, and greater resource has gone into the system. A UK Visas and Immigration helpline can provide information on eligibility and applications, and in cases of concern can escalate to teams who can look at the full case history and establish any issues.”
