Desperate Ukrainian families are resorting to illegal routes and “rogue advisers” to bring their children to Britain after “catastrophic” changes to the Homes for Ukraine scheme, ministers have been told.
The government, which has vowed “ironclad” support for Ukrainians, has been warned repeatedly since taking office that changes to the Ukrainian sponsorship schemes – made overnight last February by the Tory administration – are preventing children from joining their parents in the UK.
This has now created the “inevitable” situation in which families are resorting to bringing children to the UK via irregular routes, leaving them at risk of exploitation by criminals and people traffickers, a charity supporting Ukrainians told the home secretary this week.
Speaking to The Independent, one Ukrainian mother said she was left with no choice but to bring her children from Ukraine illegally after their carer grandparent fell ill, and urged the government to change course to allow families to reunite in safety.
Her call was backed by Labour peer Alf Dubs, who arrived in the UK as a six-year-old fleeing the Nazis. “The basic right should surely be if you have got children somewhere they should be able to join their parents,” he said.
Having previously warned that the current situation “betrays our commitment to Ukrainians”, Lord Dubs said it was not right that families were being put in such a position, adding: “I don’t believe this is what the government wants to happen.”
Approached about the latest warning, the Home Office said it was aware of issues caused by the February rule changes and was taking urgent action to resolve them “at the earliest possible opportunity”.
While Ukrainian refugees could previously sponsor family members, now only British and Irish citizens or those with permanent leave to remain can do so. Announcing the changes last year, the government admitted it had done so without warning to avoid a “misplaced surge of applications”.
The Independent has since highlighted multiple cases in which parents who left young children with relatives in Ukraine while they travelled ahead to find suitable work and accommodation in Britain suddenly found they were no longer able to obtain a UK visa for their children.
In a letter to Yvette Cooper, immigration support charity Settled, which has assisted in more than 100 cases involving Ukrainian children since the rule changes last February, warned: “Parents are resorting to increasingly desperate measures to transport their minor children to the UK.
“We are increasingly contacted by desperate individuals who have paid rogue advisors for advice that results in the affected entering the UK via borderless entry through the Republic of Ireland,” wrote Settled’s chief executive Kate Smart and senior immigration adviser Naqeeb Sadiq.
Once these children arrive in the UK, the Home Office either refuses their visa applications or they face prolonged delays, leaving them “in limbo with no immigration status, excluded from social participation or public services”, the charity warned.
While the children have been reunited with their parents in a safe country, their limited rights in the UK are creating serious concerns for their welfare and put them at risk of further exploitation, according to the letter.
Settled is now receiving requests for help on a weekly basis from parents who have resorted to irregular routes to bring their children to the UK, with “more and more” people now finding themselves in this situation, according to the charity’s Ukraine schemes adviser Yuliia Ismail.
One woman who brought her children to the UK via Ireland told The Independent she and her partner paid nearly €3,000 (£2,500) to a fraudulent adviser in the UK while desperately seeking visas for their children, as they struggled to secure suitable accommodation enabling them to act as sponsors under the previous rules.
But after finally securing a rental contract on 18 February, Natalia (whose name has been changed to protect her identity) and her partner were left feeling “very let down and lost” after the rules were changed without warning the following day.
With the situation in Ukraine growing “more and more dangerous every day” due to rocket fire and power cuts near their family home, she described being left with no choice but to bring her children illegally after it became too difficult for her mother – who has a heart problem – to continue looking after her children there.
Speaking through a translator, Natalia said: “It was so difficult. I was not sure if it was the right thing to do – that feeling I am doing something wrong is always with me – but I’d tried everything and I reached the point that I just didn’t have a choice, and could not leave my children in Ukraine.”
Describing the journey, Natalia said: “I was scared that I would be stopped or deported, but I didn’t have a choice, I had to try.”
But despite feeling relief at having her children with her in the UK, Natalia said she remains in constant fear over their lack of immigration status. While her children are at school, she has been too scared to register them with a GP.
“Still even now when I have a call from school or something, I feel anxious that I will have to pack my things and we will be deported. Because I know it was not right, but I did not know any other way to bring my children here,” she said, adding: “I still feel that pressure all the time.”
“I think the government should give parents the opportunity to act as the sponsor for their kids if they’re working, if they have accommodation,” she said, adding that parents struggling to find accommodation should also be given support, such as schemes in which local authorities act as guarantors.
“We are not asking for financial support, we’re asking for some kind of pathway to reunite at least with our children,” said Natalia. “At least the kids should get a visa so it’s for the same period as the parents, with the same rights.”
A Home Office spokesperson said: “We are aware of the issues raised in this letter regarding children, following a change made to the Ukraine schemes in February 2024. We are taking urgent action to resolve them at the earliest possible opportunity, and further details will be shared in due course.”
