Visa changes left Ukrainian children separated from parents and families fearful for their lives, report finds

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Families have been torn apart and Ukrainian children left separated from their parents in Britain by UK visa changes, a new report has found.

Charities have called on the government to take urgent action to reopen the visa pathway, which allowed Ukrainians with temporary status in the UK to reunite with their close family.

The changes - announced by the last government on 19 February - make Ukrainians ineligible to sponsor their own family to home to the UK.

After surveying over 200 Ukrainians, researchers at the Work Rights Centre and the Immigration Law Practitioners Association found that the changes to the visa scheme have had a “profoundly negative impact on the Ukrainian community”.

In the case of 33-year-old father Andrii, he is unable to bring his daughter to the UK.

He said: “My six-year-old daughter is now in Ukraine and I did not have time to act as a sponsor to have her join me [before the visa changes]. With the new rules, it is almost impossible to take a child, because it is very difficult to find a sponsor.

“As a result, the child grows up without a father and is in danger as the war continues, and for me as a father it is a great and constant stress.”

Valentyna, 24, who is based in the UK, said she tried to bring her father to the UK but he was killed in the war before she had the chance.

She said: “The current circumstances have left me in a state of despair. My father had tragically passed away just a few weeks ago due to the explosion of a Russian rocket.

“He had been counting on my assistance in finding a means of escape but, unfortunately, I was unable to fulfil his wish due to this new law. This situation is slowly but surely consuming me, causing immense anguish and distress.”

Dr Dora-Olivia Vicol, CEO of the Work Rights Centre, called on Labour to follow through on their promise to review the Ukraine visa schemes.

She added: “They must restore the commitment to stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes, by providing safety and support to those who need it.

“People with status under the Ukraine schemes should be able to sponsor others. It is cruelly absurd that a parent cannot sponsor their own child.”

The Independent revealed the case of parents who arrived under the Homes for Ukraine scheme in April 2022 but were unable to bring their two-year-old daughter from Kyiv, despite having finally secured suitable accommodation and set up a business in the UK. Last month a Home Office U-turn meant Oleksandra and Yaroslav could be united here with their daughter Anna.

Zoe Bantleman, legal director of Immigration Law Practitioners’ Association (ILPA), said: “The abrupt regressive changes to the Ukraine schemes, which decimated available safe routes, show none of the generosity of humanitarian spirit of which we are told the UK should be proud.

“Instead, desperate families separated by war have been left unable to reunite.”

The Home Office declined to comment but the home secretary is expected to review the Ukrainian visa schemes