Open letter from a teenager to the PM imploring his help | United Kingdom | News UK News

Viktoria Koval, 17, who lives near kyiv, has been offered a house with a family friend and church minister in Devon.

The law student has been staying with Reverend Jenny Kilgour at her home near Exeter on language exchange visits and Reverend Kilgour now wants to give Viktoria a safe haven.

The youngster spent months searching for all the relevant documents. But even though she has the written consent of her mother and father – who cannot accompany her – Victoria is excluded from the Homes for Ukraine program because she is not 18 and would not come here to find a parent or legal guardian. .

In desperation, Viktoria wrote her letter to the PM, telling him: “Being in danger has become normal but I still get scared every time the sirens sound knowing explosions will follow.

“When the missiles hit near my town on March 4, my parents made the very difficult decision to send me to a safer place. I have visited the UK before and stayed with a family in Cullompton, Devon and we have become close. They are like my family. But trying to get to safety has been blocked at every turn.

She pleads: “We know from our history lessons how the UK helped so many refugees escape with the Kinder transport during World War II and many thousands of children under the age of 17 have allowed to enter the UK. Many would not have survived the war if it had not been for the generosity of the British people.”

The letter ends: “I’m so sad. I just want to feel safe. Please help me and others like me.”

“Last week Clive Betts, who chairs the Westminster Leveling Up committee which is looking at how the UK is supporting refugees from Ukraine, said he hoped the Home Office would help people like Viktoria who are in dire straits. “difficult circumstances” but who have “a loving home to come” for.

He said: “If something goes wrong, the Home Office is probably behind it. Even we struggle to reach them.”

A UK government spokesperson told the Sunday Express: “For protection reasons, unaccompanied minors are only eligible for the Homes for Ukraine scheme if they are reunited with a parent or legal guardian in the UK.

It is not intended to make those who try to sponsor unaccompanied children ‘guardians’.”