The children’s guardian took them on vacation in December, but they can’t go back to Canada
Three Ukrainian children who fled to Canada when the war with Russia broke out are now stuck in Mexico because they can’t get a visa to go home.
Olga Ostapiv took in the children, a boy who was nine and two girls who were 12, and became their legal guardian. She did this because she wanted to help people from her home country. One of the girls is the granddaughter of her sister, and the other two are friends’ children.
She said that the kids had been getting used to their new lives in Edmonton since they moved there in May.
Ostapiv said, “They are very nice kids who behave well.”
Her family was supposed to go to Mexico, but the trip was put off because of the pandemic. Ostapiv said she couldn’t bear to leave her three children behind, so she took them with her to Puerto Vallarta.
Ostapiv said the kids were happy and having fun when the family got to Mexico on December 11.
But when they tried to get on the flight back to Canada on December 18, Ostapiv said they were told they couldn’t.
The children came to Canada on Canada-Ukraine Authorization for Emergency Travel (CUAET) visas, but the type of CUAET visa they got only lets them enter Canada once, which Ostapiv didn’t know.
“It makes me sick,” Ostapiv said.
Ostapiv sent in new visa requests for the three children on December 22, but she hasn’t heard back yet. The kids have been stuck in Mexico and have been moving from hotel to hotel while they wait to hear what will happen to them.
“I go to my computer twice a day, every day. I’m checking. “It could be some news,” she said.
Two months and countin
Ostapiv stayed with the children at first, but as the situation got worse, she got desperate and even thought about sending them back to Ukraine.
“When I told the kids this, they looked at me and said, ‘Please don’t send us home,'” Ostapiv said.
She changed her mind and stayed with them until the beginning of January, when she had to go back to work in Edmonton.
The kids are now with another family member.
“I’m doing everything I can to get them home… to fix what I did wrong, “she said, her eyes filled with tears.
“There’s no one to blame.” “Only I am to blame.”
CBC News talked to the kids in Puerto Vallarta via video chat.
Yuliia, who is 12 years old, said, “It is very hard for us, so we really want to go back to Canada.”
Anastasiia, who is 12 years old, said, “We miss our friends and family.”
The helpers’ frustratio
Mike Thomas is a Ukrainian relief worker who has been helping Ostapiv deal with the situation.
Thomas said that he has been trying to help the family by talking to MPs and reaching out to Immigration Minister Sean Fraser. He is angry that nothing is being done.
“You know, enough is enough?” “We know there was a mistake, and everyone agrees on that,” Thomas said.
But we know how to fix this in five minutes… “After the minister signs a letter, they can give the kids a travel document right away, and they could be back home on the next flight.”
Fraser wasn’t available to talk to us. Fraser is not able to talk about specific cases, his spokesperson said.
“Several things affect how long it takes to process an application, and more complicated applications may take longer.” “We are still processing applications as quickly as we can,” In a statement to CBC News, Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada says the same thing.
As for Ostapiv, this wait is just too much to bear.
“When I look at a calendar, it says that it has been two months.” But my feeling, it is like forever, “she said.