Chernobyl children refused UK visas
July 12 2010 by Liam Clifford
Charities are growing increasingly impatient over UK immigration decisions to reject UK visa applications from children from the Chernobyl area who were planning respite holidays in the UK.
British charities have been helping children, who
have been the victims of the fallout from the 1986 nuclear disaster, to take
holidays with British families. The holidays help them to recuperate away from
the dangerous environment they live in. However, last month 10 children due to
take breaks in the UK had their UK visas revoked the day before their departure.
These holidays were being organised by Chernobyl Children’s Life Line,
while another charity, Medicine and Chernobyl, has also reported UK visa cancellations this year.
Vladislav Shpachuk, who is ten, was one of the
boys who was told he could not travel. He lives 110km from the Chernobyl site
and suffers constant headaches. He has been told by doctors that he will benefit
from taking a month a year out of the contamination zone, and his family relies
on the charity to provide this.
His mother said, "He was there, sitting
on his suitcase. He told us he would wait until the early morning for the
minibus to collect him to the airport. Then we got the phone call to say his
visa hadn't come through. We were terrified of how to tell him, and when we did,
he was crying and asking 'Why me?'"
UK immigration officials claims the
visas have been stopped due to child safety concerns. However, all host families
have had full criminal record checks.
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