A 13-year-old girl was sent back to her besieged Ukrainian home town after her visa application was refused by the UK, an MP has told the House of Commons.
The girl’s 18-year-old sister is now in London. However, the younger sibling has returned to Ukraine, after her visa was turned down because she was not travelling with her parents, Labour’s Tulip Siddiq said at Prime Minister’s Questions.
Siddiq said one of her constituents was trying to sponsor the two sisters to come to the UK.
“These two sisters were housed in dangerous temporary accommodation in Montenegro for several weeks while the UK Home Office refused to process the application of the younger sister because she is 13 and travelling without her parents, even though she had her 18-year-old sister with her,” she said.
“Can I ask the prime minister, can he tell me hand on heart, does he think sending vulnerable children back to a war zone is the right policy?”
Boris Johnson said he understood the MP’s “indignation” and he knew the home secretary would be looking into it. “I do think the record of this country in processing, so far I think, well over 120,000 visas for Ukrainians is very creditable,” he added.
We’ve asked the Home Office for a comment on the sisters’ case.
Source: BBC
