A Ukrainian family due to arrive in the Lake District are stuck in Romania because they cannot get visa approval.
The family, who include an elderly grandmother, her three daughters and a 12-year-old and three-year-old, have been waiting for almost 11 weeks for the UK Government to approve their arrival in the country.
They are being sponsored by members of the congregation of St. Martin’s Church in Bowness on Windermere, who are concerned they will be deported by the Romanian government to an active warzone on Wednesday.
Tim Farron, MP for Westmorland and Lonsdale, has been trying to help the family arrive in UK.
He said: “We have been repeatedly assured by the head of MP engagement for the Home Office that they would expedite the Visa process for this family but to no avail.
“We have been flagging up this issue for over 10-and-a-half weeks and they promised that their safe passage would be sorted as of this morning. However, they have just told us it won’t be happening until tomorrow because of staff holidays.
“This is a multigenerational family with both young children and an elderly woman who are being failed by our Home Office and are going to be sent back to an active warzone for no other reason than bureaucratic incompetence.”
Mr Farron has written to Home Secretary Priti Patel to try and receive some answers and get the family to safety, he said.
