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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
World
Andy Lines in Calais

Desperate Ukrainian families sent all over Europe in exhausting bid to get UK visa

More harrowing stories of Ukrainian families reaching Calais desperately trying to get to the UK emerged tonight.

And there was widespread fury from mums and dads at the delays in getting visas.

Some refugees decided to head to Paris but were furious at the lack of communication and called the Mirror begging for help.

Others said they had paid 75 euros for a faster visa application meeting.

Still, families continued to come to this Channel port to seek refuge at the youth hostel which is acting as an unofficial HQ.

I saw the first British officials on the ground in Calais today but still, no one was seen at the hostel.

Volunteers sort donations for Ukrainian refugees (Charlie Varley/varleypix.com)

They were setting up a temporary office to provide “advice” but it has been located way out at the ferry port.

Ivan Amaritsa’s journey as he zig-zagged across Europe over the past two weeks beggars belief.

He smiled as he watched his four-year-old daughter Julia cuddle a huge teddy bear donated by a local French mum.

Ivan, his wife Christina, Julia, and son 20-month-old Ivan Jnr are holed up in the hostel.

Ivan and Christina with their children Ivan Jnr and Julia in Calais (Charlie Varley/varleypix.com)
Christina and her daughter Julia read a book (Charlie Varley/varleypix.com)

He drove from London to the Ukraine /Romania border to collect his terrified family who live in Chernivtsi.

He said: “I was told to drive to Paris to get visas which I did.

“When I got there I was turned away and told to go to Brussels so we drove there.

“We were then turned away there. I heard from friends about the refuge in Calais so we drove here.

“When we got here we discovered we couldn’t get visas here.

“I got online and managed to get a visa appointment for tomorrow.

“My car has broken down - it’s not good. I need to spend a lot of money on it but hopefully it will get to Paris.

“This is all so expensive. The fuel costs have been incredible.”

Two children play in Calais after escaping from Ukraine (Charlie Varley/varleypix.com)

Ivan, who lives in London and works in construction, added: “I have had to leave my mum and mother in law in Ukraine. I don’t know what’s happened to them.”

We met Ismatull and Muhabat Radhabov and their six-month-old daughter Ayesha in Calais on Monday morning.

A successful restaurant owner in the capital Kyiv Ismatull said: “We managed to escape but we just want to get to England but we don’t have the right documents.

“My cousin lives in London so we have somewhere to head for but at the moment we are not being allowed to get there.

“I really hope it gets sorted soon.”

Ismatull and Muhabat Radhabov with their daughter Ayesha in Calais (Charlie Varley/varleypix.com)
Refugees are facing delays in their visas applications (Charlie Varley/varleypix.com)

They drove down to Paris but sent a WhatsApp message urging us for help in finding accommodation

The traumatised Ukrainian family pictured in the Sunday Mirror have been ordered to travel to Brussels from Calais to try and get visas to get to the UK.

But they have no idea how they will get there. Ukrainian-born British citizen Victoria Perebeynis, 53, drove to the Ukraine/Polish border to collect four members of her extended family.

She planned to take them to her home in Oxford, but they were banned because of no paperwork.

Victoria had to return to the UK in her car - otherwise, she would have lost her job.

The British Home office building in Calais (Charlie Varley/varleypix.com)

Speaking from England tonight she said: “We have no idea yet how they will get there.”

The relatives Victoria wants to help are her cousin Valentina, 75, her daughter-in-law Maiia Magda, 46, Maiia's son Glib, 12, and her mum Ekateria Pergat, also 75 and disabled.

Maiia's husband stayed in Ukraine to fight the Russians. She is with her beloved pet Yorkie dog, Richard.

A British-Ukrainian man who has spent several days in Calais trying to help his family flee their war-torn homeland has described his frustration at the red tape and delays.

A disabled young man from Ukraine sits playing with toy cars and other children at the refuge for Ukrainian refugees in Calais (Charlie Varley/varleypix.com)
A Sudanese refugee on the street in Calais (Charlie Varley/varleypix.com)

Sales manager Vitalii Morgun, 36, has spent the last week-and-a-half in continental Europe supporting his family's quest for refugee status in the UK after Russian forces waged war on Ukraine.

Mr Morgun said: "We've tried to call all the possible offices and departments and visa centres, and no-one knows anything.

"They just keep pointing the finger at each other and say we have to wait."

Mr Morgun, from Romford, east London, said the family submitted all the paperwork at a visa centre in Brussels on Thursday last week, having spent five days travelling from Kharkiv to the Hungarian border, where they met Mr Morgun and his father, Volodymyr.

Care4Calais founder Clare Moseley said they had received reports that some refugees were paying for fast visa appointments.

She said: “We have had messages from frightened and confused refugees who don’t know if they have to pay for their visas.

“It is very confusing.

“Some are going online and being told they can pay 75 euros to have an accelerated visa meeting.

“It’s just not right. How can you pay 75 euros. It feels like profiteering out of people’s fear and desperation."

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