UK learns of illegal importation of Ukrainian refugee children

More and more Ukrainian refugees are turning to dubious and illegal ways to get their children out of the country to the UK. This was reported by the British newspaper The Independent on January 26, citing refugees and a letter from the charity organization Settled to the head of the country's Interior Ministry Yvette Cooper.

"We are increasingly approached by desperate people who have paid unscrupulous consultants for advice, resulting in victims entering the UK without border control through the Republic of Ireland," the newspaper quotes a fragment of the letter.

According to the newspaper, since February 2024, Ukrainian refugees can no longer sponsor their family members to bring them to the United Kingdom and obtain a visa. This arrangement is only available to British and Irish citizens and those with permanent residency.

As noted, when refugee children arrive in the country via Ireland, the UK Home Office either refuses to grant them a visa or leaves them stranded without legal status for long periods of time.

According to one refugee woman, she paid a fraudster around €3k to get a visa for her children.

Earlier, on January 15, The Telegraph newspaper reported that thousands of Ukrainian refugees who arrived in the UK could lose their jobs due to difficulties amid new visa rules. According to the newspaper, visa uncertainty has affected about 20 thousand Ukrainians.

European countries began to accommodate Ukrainian refugees on their territories since the beginning of the special operation by Russia to protect Donbas, which the Russian Federation announced on February 24, 2022.