Written by Kitty Hamilton for Vigil for Visas
It’s Friday and the eve of our fourth week of Saturday vigils. It’s been a long month. From the initial “we’ve got to do something” to submitting a judicial review, it’s been quite a journey.
We are getting reports that some people are now starting to get their families across but there are still many with heart-breaking stories of long waits, fruitless journeys to visa centres, time and money spent, and many anxiety-ridden apologies for the government’s slow response to a time sensitive initiative they launched a month after the initial invasion.
Long after Poland, for example, had started to receive people. The number of Ukrainians there has long passed the 2 million mark and we’re only inching above 20,000 when over 200,000 British people stepped forward to offer their homes and hospitality.
What’s heartening though is that so many people aren’t giving up. Within just over 24 hours we’d reached the first milestone for our crowdfunder and we’re still getting people contacting us wanting to know what more they can do to get their families across.
It’s for this reason that the Vigil for Visas team consisting mainly of Louise Marcinkevice and Katherine Klinger with a small army of lawyers (a heartfelt thank you to the whole team) have been working into the early hours writing witness statements from people who responded to our Vigil for Visas campaign.
The submission has gone in today and now we wait. Yes, more waiting.
And while we wait, we remain on Vigil. Tomorrow is our fourth Saturday. I can’t make it, but Katherine will be there with our bright yellow and blue placards and hopefully some other people for company, after all it will be sunny. Unlike Wednesday when Katherine and I stood outside the Home Office in the pouring rain with only the New York Times photographer and journalist for company.
When the government launched the Homes for Ukraine scheme with a great rallying cry to help those in their “hour of need”, we stepped up. We never dreamed we would have to battle so hard to get people safely over here. Four weeks on, I remain baffled at the delays, especially when we know they can prove so deadly.
Thank you to all involved in the Homes for Ukraine scheme, Ukrainian and British, for not giving up. And the legal team, Amanda, Kenny, Resha, Amna, Paul and Sharan for representing so many stuck in limbo. I hope I haven’t left anyone out.