West Lothian woman hopes to be reunited with Ukrainian family
Olena Hutchison, from East Calder, is hoping to finally be reunited with her sister, niece and nephew today - but is urging the UK government to do more for other refugees
A Ukrainian woman living in West Lothian hopes to finally be reunited with her family today.
Olena Hutchison, who lives in East Calder, has faced an agonising wait of well over a week to see her sister, niece and nephew secure visas.
They were forced to flee from their war-torn homeland, but are set to touch-down in Edinburgh tonight.
"I'm scared to actually say to my colleagues that my Sister the kids at arriving tonight.
"Because I actually want to see them before I actually spread the news."
Olena has been fortunate enough to be financially supported by her employer LumiraDX in the efforts to bring her family over.
And a Polish business partner has offered support and somewhere to stay for her sister and Kids.
She's also had support from local politicians such as MP Hannah Bardell.
But Olena admits not everyone who has been forced to flee from Ukraine will be as lucky.
"I just really want the government to think about people - they are traumatised.
"Some of them don't have any money, some of them are in really difficult conditions, sleeping on the floor. It's just they just really need to help them to, to get them to safety as soon as possible, especially kids.
"Kids don't deserve to be treated like that."
'Red tape' has made it more difficult for refugees to get to the UK, with visa applications pilling up at the home office.
Applicants have also faced issues where they cannot fill out the required paperwork on a mobile phone, forcing them to find computers.