A group lawsuit is being filed against hundreds of Ukrainians who applied to travel to the UK weeks ago, but whose cases are stuck in a “chaotic” unenforced visa, the Guardian has learned. Charities, including Save the Children and the Refugee Council, said the Homes for Ukraine program needed to be reviewed as a matter of urgency, as it endangered vulnerable children and added “a wound above the existing wound” from the Russian invasion. Chronic delays have been exacerbated by the fact that the Interior Ministry approved many visas but did not notify the successful ones. The government acknowledged on Thursday that it was aware of the problem, as MPs from across the Commonwealth expressed concern about families waiting up to five weeks for news of their application. According to the latest government figures, 59,000 people have been granted visas but have not yet arrived in the UK. Only 15% of the 74,700 Ukrainians who have applied for sponsorship have arrived in Britain. A large number of those who have not yet arrived will be people waiting for other family members to obtain their visas before traveling. Children’s applications usually take longer because the UK requires them to undergo security scans if they do not have their own international passport. However, a significant proportion of 59,000 Ukrainians will be people who have approved visas but have not been notified of the approval. Amanda Jones, an immigration and public law lawyer, has been instructed to take legal action on behalf of “hundreds” of Ukrainians in litigation organized by members of the Vigil for Visas and Take Action Over the Homes for Ukraine Delays Visa groups. This could include filing a judicial review case against the Ministry of Interior. Legal action is also being prepared on behalf of single children who have not been able to access foster care created for them in the UK due to visa delays. Anaïs Crane, an employee at Wilsons Solicitors working with the Here For Good Ukraine Project and representing many unaccompanied children from Ukraine, said they waited more than a month for a decision and began to lose hope. “Many of them are now thinking of returning to Ukraine because of their precarious situation in Europe,” he said. Yvette Cooper, the shadow interior minister, described the delay between the approval and the issuance of the visa as “unexplained and shameful” and urged the Home Office to reveal how many people had been affected and what steps it had taken to address the problem. He added: “It is horrible for families who have already left the war zones to stay even longer in the vacuum, because the Ministry of Interior can not even reach an agreement to warn people when visas have been issued. “Long delays make families more vulnerable to exploitation.” Kirsty McNeill, executive director at Save the Children and a former Downing Street consultant, said the bureaucracy increases the risk for some of the 1.5 million children who fled Ukraine in the February 24 Russian invasion. He said: “Part of it [the government’s] The argument for bureaucracy and slowness is that it keeps people safe. “But in reality it is the lack of rhythm that puts children at risk more than anything else.” Enver Solomon, executive director of the Refugee Council, said the stories of women and children trapped in dangerous situations were the “terrible but inevitable consequence” of an approach that was “flawed from the start”. He said: “The response to a clearly serious humanitarian crisis with two visa channels; it would always result in the paper and the bureaucracy being brought before the people and their needs. “Tragically, we are now witnessing the effects of this approach.” The International Rescue Committee said the UK was “remote” in Europe because it required those fleeing the war to apply for visas before they arrived. Ireland, which does not require a visa for arrivals, has received about the same number of Ukrainians as the United Kingdom, even though its population is one-third of the size of Britain’s population. A government spokesman said: “In response to Putin’s barbaric invasion, we have launched one of the fastest and largest visa programs in the history of the United Kingdom. More than 86,000 visas have been issued for Ukrainians to live and work in the United Kingdom. “The changes made by the Interior Ministry to streamline the visa system, including the simplification of forms and the increase in the number of staff, are working and we are now processing visas at the same rate as they enter – allowing thousands more Ukrainians to pass through our routes without restriction “.
