Derbyshire woman offering home to Ukrainian mum and son fears visa scheme issues are putting them at risk

Alex Parsons, 58, signed up for the Government’s Ukraine sponsorship scheme, also called Homes for Ukraine, when it opened in late March.

As required by the Home Office, she has been linked to a particular applicant, Oksana and her 10-year-old son Pavlo, who are currently living in Poland with 26 other refugees.

But 17 days after first submitting the application, Alex said she is still fighting to get the pair to the UK after problems with the visa process – and is now growing increasingly concerned for their safety.

Alex, from Glapwell, said: “We used to host the Chernobyl children when the accident for about five years, twice a year so it’s something we’ve done before and obviously for humanitarian reasons, she’s been in a place that’s been bombed.

“We’ve got the room to do it, we’ve done it before under different circumstances, so we felt it was something we could open our home up to do.”

Alex and Oksana connected with each other via the Facebook group Sunflower Sisters, which matches female refugees with female hosts from across Europe.

“I went onto the Government site and put in for a sponsorship first and then went on to Facebook and put in exact details of what I wanted," Alex explained.

"Because we’ve got an 11-year-old son and because of our age – we had him at 47 – I specifically put a post asking for a mum and child about the same age as my son and Oksana messaged me.

"She literally begged me to have her, so I got in touch with her on messenger. She told me all about her and that husband is still in Kharkhiv fighting.

"She worries daily for his life. She told me, he says bodies of civilians and children lay in the streets. Missiles are non stop.”

Having suffered lung damage from Covid last year, Oksana is finding it difficult on the Polish farm where she reportedly has to work six 10-hour days with just a 30-minute break on each shift.

She also has to leave Pavlo on his own after school and rarely sees him. When she does, she is both mentally and physically exhausted.

Their desperation is weighing heavily on Alex, who is managing both Oksana’s and Pavlo's visas on their behalf.

Alex said: “Something was niggling me so I emailed Bolsover MP Mark Fletcher and asked him to check if I’d done the applications right as I’m not very computer savvy.

"I later saw a post on Facebook which prompted me to go back in and check it and it turned out three days had gone by, Mark Fletcher had not checked it, and all I’d done is not pressed one small arrow.

“On Friday, March 23, it said submitted and I took screenshots. By then, Mr Fletcher got back saying Oksana was safe in Poland and was in the system.

"But since then he’s said they’ve lost all my details and that I’m not registered on the site.”

She added: “It’s a desperate situation in my eyes. The last thing I know, they said they were looking into it.

"I think the system has mixed up. It’s gone from sponsorship and producing a proper international passport to being moved across to the family scheme, which she’s not on as I’m not family, to biometrics.

"That’s their end, it’s not my mistake. There’s big issues with the system.

"Oksana has diabetes, her medication was on seven days and she’s running out of medication. She’s also got lung damage from Covid and she’s sent me pictures of these heavy pots filled with plants.

"She has to move between 5,000 and 7,000 a day, she was in a pig slaughter house in minus temperatures the week before. She’s been sending me messages and she’s almost giving up. To me she’s in slave labour.

"She’s lost about two stone in weight and has from a size 14/16 to a 10/12. Her hair is falling out, that'll be with the stress.

"She’s my eldest daughter’s age and now it feels like this is my daughter in that situation because I have got attached to her and the things she writes, I try to keep positive and try to keep her and Pavlo happy by sending more positive notes but when she sends pictures it’s like she’s aged 10 years in a few weeks.”

In one message to Alex, Oksana wrote: “There were bruises on the arms from the loads. There is no strength to pull these pots. The whole body hurts.

"The hands are swollen. I asked for another job today, they refused me. I can't get Pavlo's time. I have no energy and I'm irritated. Alex sorry to complain. I thought I was a strong woman, but I'm not.”

With Oksana and Pavlo in a difficult situation, Mr Fletcher says his office is aware of and working on the issue to help bring the matter to a conclusion “as quickly as possible”.

He said: “I am aware of the case in question and my office has made numerous enquiries of the Home Office both on the telephone and through the facility which has been set up in Westminster for MPs and their staff.

"My office continues to do all it can to help bring this matter to a conclusion as quickly as possible and the constituent concerned has been kept informed of developments at every stage.”

On Thursday, Oksana received an email from the Government stating that it would “take some time” before decisions can be given to all who applied for visa through “one of the fastest and largest visa programmes in UK history.”

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