Britain has denied asylum to several Ukrainian families, including a family with a child who suffers from panic attacks due to the war. The family has been advised to use noise-canceling headphones.
This is reported by Sky News.
The childʼs mother said she first left Ukraine on the second day of the full-scale invasion, leaving her husband and mother-in-law behind, and the girl began to suffer panic attacks. British doctors tried to help, but after being denied asylum, the symptoms returned.
The refusal advised moving to “safer regions of Ukraine” and noted that the family could move to Chernivtsi, Ternopil, or Rivne, but the parents do not consider these regions safe. Last November, a rocket in Ternopil claimed dozens of lives and injured over a hundred people.
Another family who escaped from Mariupol, with a son who has autism, was also refused. The British Home Office acknowledged that the family may fall under the criteria for persecution, but said they would not face a “real risk” if they moved to western Ukraine or Kyiv.
The Interior Ministry said their sonʼs autism was not considered a basis for "special humanitarian reasons" in family life, although the boyʼs mother said that stress from the bombing of their home had caused her son to stop speaking.
- Since the war, the UK has accepted almost 310 000 Ukrainians under special visa schemes since February 2022, but most asylum applications are currently being rejected. Lawyers note that until April 2025, almost all applications from Ukrainians were approved.
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