WEST Midlands Mayor Richard Parker has stepped in to try to help Ukrainians who fled their war-torn homeland to stay in the region.
Worried families are now facing uncertain futures as their visas approach their expiry dates and they are anxious the lives they have built here could be shattered.
Mr Parker said he has written to the Government urging it to “show strong leadership” and take decisive action.
He met with Ukrainians who gave an insight into what life has been like since Russia invaded their country in February 2022.
Olga Popova fled Kyiv in February 2022 with her six-year-old son, mother and cat and had to move several times, finding temporary sanctuary in Croatia, before finally moving to Birmingham in August that year.
She required medical care at Birmingham’s Orthopaedic Hospital and started volunteering after just two months in the UK before securing a job with a charity which helps other Ukrainians settle and integrate into British society.
She was also able to sponsor her husband and father to join her.
She said: “In the UK we have built a new life from the ashes of our old one. My husband and I both work. We rent our own home. Our son speaks English and thrives at school.
“We are not just surviving, we are contributing. We are part of this society.
“But the fear remains: What happens when our visas expire? In just 18 months, everything we have worked for could be taken away again.
"I feel like we are trapped in a political game.
The Ukrainian government urges us to return, to rebuild a shattered country. The British government aligns with this position. But no one has asked us what we want! We are not just statistics. We are not just a policy issue. We are real people who have endured unimaginable loss and...
Worried families are now facing uncertain futures as their visas approach their expiry dates and they are anxious the lives they have built here could be shattered.
Mr Parker said he has written to the Government urging it to “show strong leadership” and take decisive action.
He met with Ukrainians who gave an insight into what life has been like since Russia invaded their country in February 2022.
Olga Popova fled Kyiv in February 2022 with her six-year-old son, mother and cat and had to move several times, finding temporary sanctuary in Croatia, before finally moving to Birmingham in August that year.
She required medical care at Birmingham’s Orthopaedic Hospital and started volunteering after just two months in the UK before securing a job with a charity which helps other Ukrainians settle and integrate into British society.
She was also able to sponsor her husband and father to join her.
She said: “In the UK we have built a new life from the ashes of our old one. My husband and I both work. We rent our own home. Our son speaks English and thrives at school.
“We are not just surviving, we are contributing. We are part of this society.
“But the fear remains: What happens when our visas expire? In just 18 months, everything we have worked for could be taken away again.
"I feel like we are trapped in a political game.
The Ukrainian government urges us to return, to rebuild a shattered country. The British government aligns with this position. But no one has asked us what we want! We are not just statistics. We are not just a policy issue. We are real people who have endured unimaginable loss and...
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Birmingham Mail (Digital) - 1 Issue, March 17, 2025