Watch as Ukrainian family reunited at Edinburgh Airport
Olena from East Calder was at Edinburgh Airport to welcome her sister, niece and nephew who were forced to flee from Kyiv
Last updated 17th Mar 2022
A West Lothian woman has been reunited with her sister, niece and nephew who were forced to flee from Kyiv in Ukraine.
Olena Hutchison described the process of getting visas for her family as "very, very frustrating" as they waited for weeks to finally get clearance to come to Scotland.
Now Nataliia, niece Daryna and nephew, Aretmiy have arrived in Edinburgh after initially escaping to Poland.
They landed with just a suitcase between the trio, most of the items within provided by their hosts - a business contact of Olena's - in Poland.
16 year-old Daryna clutched a cuddly toy as the trio arrived at arrivals in Edinburgh Airport last night (March 16th) neither she or 13-year-old Artemiy speak english.
Now Olena will begin the process of having both of them enrolled in school here, she hopes to get them into the same school as her own teenage daughter.
But she hopes the UK Government makes it easier for other refugees to come here, especially those who she says aren't as "lucky" as her family.
"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 get them to safety as soon as possible, especially kids.
"Kids don't deserve to be treated like that."