Buckinghamshire Ukrainian families worry about UK temporary visas
Ukraine Appeal, which supports migrants in Buckinghamshire, said it was "very very difficult" for those who have fled war to deal with uncertainty surrounding their future. Viktoriya Shtanko, who has lived in Milton Keynes since 2008, set up the charity to help fellow Ukrainians arriving in the area.She believed Ukrainians who wanted to, should be allowed to remain in Britain long-term to help grow the economy. "No-one expected the war would go for so long," she said."Now as the children are settled, and as adults are in work trying to contribute to society... they are the people who Britain needs."
Iryna Maracine and Valeriia Pavliuk were just two of the women the charity has supported. Ms Maracine, 38, works as a carer in a care home in Milton Keynes. Her hometown of Lysychansk, in eastern Ukraine, was under occupation by the Russian army. She told the BBC: "Everything is destroyed. A lot of buildings are burned, it's absolutely heartbreaking."She said she had no home to return to and wanted certainty for her two sons, aged 12 and 16, who were settled in school here. "I'm worried about my future," she added."We are very appreciative of what we have and this chance to stay safe, but my kids - they ask me all the time, 'Mum, what is our future?' and I don't have an answer for them."
Ms Pavliuk, 26, works as an administrator. She believes her employment opportunities have been limited because of the temporary nature of the UK's visa scheme. She said some employers were reluctant to hire Ukrainians because they "see this temporary visa and see uncertainty with this person".
Ukraine Appeal has been in contact with the MP for Milton Keynes, Emily Darlington.Darlington told the BBC that when she recently spoke to the Foreign Secretary, David Lammy, he assured her that the visa schemes currently in place would remain in place until the end of the war.She acknowledged that some Ukrainians who have built businesses may want to stay beyond the conclusion of the war and said she "would welcome that".However, she stated she could not offer any guarantees that a permanent route to settlement would be offered."I know some will want to stay - now that happened during the Bosnian war and the UK government successfully made sure that they could," Darlington said. "So for the few that do want to stay, the discussions will happen post the war."
The Home Office said since Russian President Vladimir Putin's invasion, more than 300,000 Ukrainians and their families had been given sanctuary in the UK. They added the UPE visas "allow those with permission... to apply for 18 months additional permission to remain in the UK"."Given the unpredictable nature of this conflict, we continue to keep our Ukraine schemes under review," it continued. Last month, the government reversed visa rule changes to allow Ukrainians to bring their children to join them in the UK.It came after the Conservative government restricted eligibility in February 2024, which meant that Ukrainians, without the right to live in the UK permanently, could no longer sponsor people under the Homes for Ukraine scheme, which allowed people to host those fleeing the war.However, at the end of January 2025, the government announced a parent or legal guardian who is in the UK under any of the visa schemes for Ukrainians can apply to sponsor their child under the Homes for Ukraine scheme.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Channel 4
19 minutes ago
- Channel 4
‘War criminal' Putin not ready for real peace talks says former Ukrainian PM
We spoke to former Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk about negotiations between the US, Russia and Ukraine for possible peace.
The Independent
19 minutes ago
- The Independent
BBC ‘not institutionally antisemitic', editor says after row over Gaza coverage
The BBC is 'not institutionally antisemitic', a newspaper editor has said following a row over the broadcaster's coverage of the conflict in Gaza. James Harding, The Observer 's editor-in-chief said the perception of a 'political presence looming over the BBC' is a problem and the broadcaster needs to be 'beyond the reach of politicians'. The BBC has been criticised for a number of incidents in recent months which include breaching its own accuracy editorial guidelines and livestreaming the Bob Vylan Glastonbury set, where there were chants of 'Death, death to the IDF (Israel Defence Forces)'. Following the incident, UK Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said ministers expect 'accountability at the highest levels' for the BBC's decision to screen the performance. Mr Harding discussed the difficulties of covering the Gaza conflict when he delivered this year's James MacTaggart Memorial Lecture at the Edinburgh TV Festival on Wednesday. He described how 'newsrooms are in a furious argument with ourselves over the coverage of Israel and Gaza', with the situation 'very hard to view dispassionately'. The Observer chief said this is true for all media organisations, particularly the BBC, and it is 'about as difficult as it gets in news'. Mr Harding said: 'This summer, Lisa Nandy has weighed in.' He said the Culture Secretary's office insists she did not explicitly ask Samir Shah, the BBC chairman, to 'deliver up' director-general Tim Davie 's resignation following the Bob Vylan incident, but 'people inside the BBC were left in no doubt that was the message'. Mr Harding said: 'The place became paranoid about how the BBC itself would cover the story; people around him thought the political pressure would be too much. 'Whatever your view of the hate speech vs freedom of speech issues, an overbearing government minister doesn't help anyone. 'The hiring and firing of the editor-in-chief of the country's leading newsroom and cultural organisation should not be the job of a politician. It's chilling. 'Political interference – and the perception of a political presence looming over the BBC – is a problem, one that we've got too accustomed to. 'It looks likely to get worse. We need to get on with putting the country's most important editorial and creative organisation beyond the reach of politicians now.' The broadcaster is also facing an Ofcom investigation into its documentary Gaza: How To Survive A Warzone after a review found it had breached the corporation's editorial guidelines on accuracy. The programme was removed from BBC iPlayer in February after it emerged the child narrator, Abdullah, is the son of Ayman Alyazouri, who has worked as Hamas's deputy minister of agriculture. Mr Harding said the BBC is not antisemitic. 'I am Jewish, proudly so,' he said. 'I'm proud, too, to have worked for the most important news organisation in the world. 'The BBC is not institutionally antisemitic. It's untrue to say it is. 'It's also unhelpful – much better to correct the mistakes and address the judgment calls that have been wrong, than smear the institution, impugn the character of all the people who work there and, potentially, undermine journalists in the field working in the most difficult and dangerous of conditions.' The UK Government and the BBC have been asked for comment. Mr Harding is co-founder of Tortoise Media, which acquired broadsheet newspaper The Observer in April. Before he co-founded Tortoise Media, Mr Harding was editor of The Times from 2007 to 2012 and was in charge of the BBC's news and current affairs programming from 2013 up until the beginning of 2018. He also co-presented On Background on the BBC World Service and wrote the book Alpha Dogs: How Political Spin Became A Global Business. A spokesperson for the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport said: 'The Culture Secretary has been repeatedly clear that the role of the director-general is a matter for the BBC board. Any suggestion to the contrary is untrue. 'The BBC has itself acknowledged a number of serious failings in recent months, including the broadcasting of the Bob Vylan set at Glastonbury. 'It is entirely right that the Culture Secretary raised these issues with the BBC leadership on behalf of licence fee payers.'
Edinburgh Reporter
21 minutes ago
- Edinburgh Reporter
Former council leader Cammy Day represents Edinburgh at international event
Sending former council leader Cammy Day to represent Edinburgh to an international delegation earlier this month 'made perfect sense, ' according to the city's leader. Along with fellow Labour councillor James Dalgleish and other city figures, Cllr Day met with 26 visiting councillors from Kaohsiung, Taiwan in Edinburgh. The news came at the city's Policy and Sustainability Committee on Tuesday, where council leader Jane Meagher said she put his name forward due to her being unable to attend. Cllr Day resigned his role as council leader in December last year over allegations he had sent sexual messages to Ukrainian refugees living in the Capital. He was also suspended by the Labour Party, but recently was readmitted to the party and their council group after he was cleared of any criminal behaviour by police in May. SNP councillor Kate Campbell raised questions over why Cllr Day was in attendance, given the 'widespread acknowledgement' that he had carried out inappropriate behaviour. Councillor Meagher said: 'I wasn't available for this, and it seemed to me to be a matter of common sense to include Councillor Day given his historical involvement and knowledge of our friendship agreement with [Kaohsiung]. 'For that reason, it made perfect sense for him to be there, to help smooth the path between Cllr Dalgleish and the delegation, which I gather was extremely powerful and helpful. 'It made perfect sense not to exclude somebody who had done a considerable amount of work in developing this friendship agreement with Taiwan.' Cllr Campbell had also asked about two Edinburgh University representatives in the delegation who had been unable to attend at the last minute due to ill health. She said that she did not doubt that they were unwell, but asked whether a policy of notifying city partners of what councillors may be present at an event would be wise. Council officer Chris Adams, who covers international relationships, said that the two representatives had been unwell, but that he did not have any more information about them. Cllr Meagher added: 'As far as Edinburgh University attendance is concerned, I don't think we can draw any conclusions around their motives for not being able to attend. 'If we think about global politics, it might be that you draw conclusions related to that, rather than to any individuals who might be present.' A large portion of Edinburgh University's student body is from China, which does not recognise Taiwan as an independent country. Mr Adams said Cllr Dalgleish was in attendance at the meeting in his civic duty as a Bailie, a representative of the Lord Provost. And standing in for the Lord Provost, who was unable to attend, was another Bailie, James Douglas. He said the university attendees had been set to discuss the research connections between Edinburgh University and universities in Asia. He also said James McVeigh from Festivals Edinburgh was also in attendance, and that much of the conversation in the meeting was around how Edinburgh handles the festivals. Cllr Meagher said she understood that the discussions were 'extremely powerful and helpful'. Edinburgh has a range of sister city and friendship agreements with cities around the globe, including Krakow, Dunedin, Kyiv and San Diego. By Joseph Sullivan Local Democracy Reporter Like this: Like Related
