Mum left in dark over refugee’s passport

A frustrated mother-of-three says she’s been left in the dark over the whereabouts of a passport for a Ukrainian child refugee she is trying to bring to Worcestershire.

Pollyanne Andrews has offered to host two mothers with two seven-year-old boys fleeing the war zone but the group are currently stuck in Hungary – and the Home Office refuses to tell them whether the missing passport is in Budapest or 340 miles away in Poland.

She slammed what she called the Home Office’s “broken” visa system.

Mrs Andrews, who lives with her husband Giles and three young children, said she had finally been made aware the Ukrainian boy’s new passport had been printed more than a fortnight ago, but the Home Office could not say where the vital document was.

The group of two mothers and two seven-year-old boys are currently living in Budapest on temporary visas with a different family having fled Ukraine’s third-largest city Odessa following the invasion by Russia at the end of February.

Once the passport has been collected in Budapest, the group of refugees will be able to book flights to England.

Pollyanne Andrews, from Little Comberton, said: “Whilst I am totally frustrated about the situation with the Ukrainian family, who have been waiting to come to live here since March, I also know that we wouldn’t have made as much progress without the help of Harriett Baldwin’s office, and I am very grateful for this support.

“I know that they are as frustrated as we are with the lack of visibility and broken visa application systems within the Home Office.

“In this particular instance, it seems that our little boy’s replacement passport has been printed 15 days ago, but no one in the Home Office seems able to let myself or Harriett Baldwin’s office know where it has been printed and how to collect it.

“This family simply needs to be able to collect this from the office in Budapest so that we can then book flights and get them here safely and the boys back to school and being able to flourish in a safe environment at Elmley Castle First School.”

Harriett Baldwin, MP for West Worcestershire, said: “While I cannot comment on individual cases, I am so grateful to the warm-hearted local residents who are doing so much to welcome refugees to West Worcestershire.

“Each case has been checked with both the Ukraine government and the Home Office to make sure that refugees aren’t put at risk or trafficked illegally or end up with inappropriate hosts.

“These checks are important as I am aware of several applications in the county that have been flagged as potentially at risk.

“I am delighted that nearly all of the more than 100 applications we have been made aware of have now successfully received their paperwork and only a few cases are now outstanding.”