The first government minister to take in a Ukrainian refugee says the relationship will “last the whole of our lives” but admits there have been problems with the UK’s resettlement scheme.
Vika, 25, said she feels “lucky” to have moved in with environment minister Victoria Prentis, but wants to go back home to Ukraine soon.
So far, just 15% of the 32,200 visa applications received under the government’s Homes for Ukraine scheme have been granted, with new Home Office figures expected on Friday morning.
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Vika, 25, said she feels lucky to have moved in with Victoria Prentis but wants to go home as soon as she can
Minister for refugees Lord Harrington has admitted the government was “not geared up” for the volume of Ukrainians seeking refuge in the UK.
Mrs Prentis said there was not “a moment of indecision” before she decided to take in Vika.
“She’s welcome to stay for as long as she needs,” the minister said.
Vika fled the southern city of Kherson, which is now Russian-occupied, and says she can feel “emotional and hysterical” hearing news from Ukraine.
She said: “I’m talking to my mum who’s crying all the time, she doesn’t know what to do, I don’t know what to do.”
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Russian troops ‘fire on Kherson crowd’
Vika said the most difficult thing is being unable to help her family who are trapped in Kherson.
“I can’t buy food, I can’t buy medicine for them, I can’t help them at all,” she said.
The refugee said she did not want to leave her home, but her mother sent her to safety as soon as the war began.
Vika, who had previously met Mrs Prentis’ daughter in Ukraine, came to the UK on a regular visa but is now being transferred to the Homes for Ukraine scheme.
The scheme, which allows British people to sponsor a Ukrainian by bringing them to live in their own home, has been criticised by the Labour Party, which says it has been “shambolic”.
This gym in Poland is being used to house Ukrainian refugees, many whom are waiting for UK visas
Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said the government has made “shamefully slow progress” on helping refugees flee Ukraine.
Conservative MP Alicia Kearns, who has been linking refugees with MPs, is waiting for four Ukrainians she is taking in to arrive in the UK.
She says it was a “big decision” to open her home, but her family are excited about welcoming two mothers and two children.
She said: “It’s a long term commitment, but I feel very heavily that we have a duty.”
Tory MP Alicia Kearns has been helping link up refugees with British families and is taking in two mothers and daughters
Ms Kearns said the government “could have gone further, faster” to help Ukrainian refugees and she still has concerns about the length of visa forms and that they are not in Ukrainian.
However, she believes the Homes for Ukraine scheme is “the right model…rather than bringing people over and putting them in hotels or temporary accommodation, we’re going to build them into our communities”.
Several MPs, including Transport Secretary Grant Shapps and Labour’s Louise Haigh, have said they will be taking in refugees.
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Mrs Prentis said people should not underestimate the challenge of opening their homes, and added: “The weekend has been very hard for Vika and consequently for all of us.
“There’s nothing wrong in that and we shouldn’t shy away from it. But it is real and it’s happening.”
Vika said she is getting used to rural Oxfordshire, but one problem is the weather.
“It can be sunny then in a minute raining, then in a minute later snowing. We do have weather changes in Ukraine but it takes a day to change, not every minute!”
Even though she is safe, she misses home. Vika said: “I want to go to Ukraine and live there and work there. I have friends there, I have my life there and my family, everything.”