It was with great interest that I read Diane Taylor’s piece about seasonal Ukrainian workers (‘Scandal in plain sight’: charities call for help for Ukrainian seasonal workers, 28 March). I have sponsored the visas of the wives and son of two seasonal workers who are in the UK on short-term visas. So far so good, and I’m expecting them here hopefully next weekend.
The wives and little boy will be here under the refugee scheme and it was planned that they would live with me for at least six months. On realising that they would be living 40 minutes away from their husbands who are staying in a hostel, I decided to try find other accommodation for them. Thanks to the magnificent generosity of a local property company, they will now have a house and will be able to live as a family rent-free for up to nine months. This is not down to the government, which stymies the efforts of all, but those most determined to help refugees.
There are now more offers of help than there are applicants, and I suspect that is down to the overly complicated bureaucracy put in place by the government that discourages people from even applying. Our government is full of mealy-mouthed, meaningless pronouncements. It is shameful.
With a bit of luck, these agricultural workers will be able to apply for refugee status when their work visas end, and then they will be able to stay and work wherever they like for three years.
Lowri Coulten
Kings Lynn, Norfolk
• The UK’s visa system is indeed causing great distress to already traumatised Ukrainians (UK visa rule leaving refugees stranded in war-torn Ukraine, say charities, 28 March). Why should a mother and child fleeing war be expected to produce documents proving their residence in Ukraine prior to 1 January 2022? Or indeed the child’s birth certificate? One woman hoping to come to our town, who I have been in contact with, says that she feels the certainty of her basement was preferable to the uncertain limbo of waiting for visa approval in a reception centre in Warsaw.
Her instincts are possibly right; her child ended up in hospital with rotavirus caused by the unsanitary conditions they are living in while they wait. For goodness sake, let’s cut the bureaucracy. These people need our help, not more trauma.
Emma Lilley
Presteigne, Powys
• Have an opinion on anything you’ve read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication.
