Ukrainian War refugee faces hardest battle   

ALTHOUGH four years may have elapsed since she fled the war torn landscape of her home country Ukrainian national Daria Yakovenko  has still  seen her fair share of battles.

 First was having to relocate to a foreign country to ensure adequate treatment for her terminally ill daughter Vlada, second was having to watch as her beloved child slowly passed away in her arms.

Daria then had to lay her daughgter to rest in the country which provided her shelter.

However, now Miss Yakovenko faces arguably the hardest battle of all in her attempt to gain permanent residency in Northern Ireland so as to always be with her most cherished child who was taken from her much too soon.

Whilst Daria, who worked as a qualified nurse, before fleeing Ukraine, could repay  the level of care shown to her and her child in their moment of need ad infinitum she still only has permission to reside in Northern Ireland thanks to a temporary extension  to a Visa initially given to her in 2022.

    Whilst the Ukrainian native could request another  extension to her visa in 12 months time if the situation in her home county has not been resolved, according to retired Warrenpoint pharmacist Jacinta Curren this is not what Daria wants at all   now that her one and only child   has been laid to rest in Warrenpoint.

As any mother would Daria wants to be in one place and one place only , that being where her child is. However if forced to return to Ukraine it would mean that she  would have to travel over 2,200 miles to be with  Vlada, the daughter  whom she only had the privilege of knowing for eight years.   

Death of a child

“Daria wants permanent residency now that her child is buried here explained Jacinta.

“Vlada died on December 9, It has been very traumatic. We had taken her in September , we thought we had lost her then. She stayed three weeks in the Royal and then she went to the children’s hospice in Belfast for six weeks.

“We decided that we may get her home and then she was home for two weeks. The first week she was relatively good. Then the second week she started to go down. We got her to the hospital on the Monday and she died in the early hours of the Tuesday morning December 9.

“The hospital were very good, they let her stay until 1 O'clock in the afternoon, about 12 hours. Then they said that they had to take her to the morgue. Just as we were leaving to go to the morgue Daria just said no I cannot send her away. I had contacted the Ukrainian embassy in Dublin. They passed me onto Scotland, the UK and they passed me on to someone who would repatriate and take Vlada's body away. They had it all set up as a company who would do this. They would collect her the next day from the morgue in Daisy Hill. However when we were bringing her down to the morgue Daria said that she couldn't do it. 

“We decided to hold the funeral here. It was beautiful. We had a Greek Orthodox priest called Vasyl Kornitsky and three canters from Dublin. We had the wake on Friday December 12 from 2pm to 5pm and 7pm to 9pm.

“ Vlada was buried on the Saturday December 13. It was the most beautiful ceremony, the church was full. These were not just people coming because  they knew me, these were people coming from the Hospice, Royal, Daisy Hill, Rathore and district nurses. Anyone who had any dealings with Vlada, it was so good. The burial was up in the municipal ceremony in Warrenpoint. Daria goes to the grave everyday and it is their custom to leave biscuits and sweets on it.”

Permanent residency

Given the fact that Daira has now lain to rest her one and only child in Northern Irish soil one would speculate that this may afford her with preferential treatment on the part of the Home Office to be considered for permanent residency in the UK.        

However as Jacinta explains this is not the case, with much anxiety still abounding regarding what Miss Yakovenko’s situation will be whenever her current visa expires in just over 12 months, a time that the retired pharmacist explains is not far away.  

“Daria and Vlada's visa's ran out in November. We tried to renew their visa's online. You are not allowed to apply until 28 days before expiration. I did start applying after 35 days. They where in the hospice all the time. I was going up and staying over. We were doing this online. They kept us until two days before the visa expired. They said that Daria had passed her visa but Vlada had’nt because the photograph we sent in had Vlada with her eyes closed and a nasogastric tube in. We had explained that this child was dying in the hospice.

“Daria got an 18 month visa but she doesn't know where she is going to be in 18 months. Daria is worrying all the time what is going to happen. It was 18 months from November of last year to March of next year. It is not that long. The chances of her getting permanent residency here are not very high.

“If the war is still on she will get another visa but if the war is not still on they said that the fact Vlada is buried here would not give Daria any bonus points as such because she can apply back to see the grave.

“They said that if Daria was in employment that is needed here, such as carers, we would have a better chance this way.

“She has so much knowledge, care and empathy. We were talking about it. She would be phenomenal in children’s caring and I think it would help her. Her plan was to come and work in a children’s residential place were she could stay and work here. In her mind this is what she thought she could do for Vlada. I could see her doing that in Rathore. The Rathore teachers said she would be a phenomenal asset. She has learned English and is in a much better place to do this.

“ Perhaps if we got her sorted out with this there would be a better chance. However there are so many people wanting to stay this would not be guaranteed.”

Little to return to

With her only child’s final resting place being in Northern Ireland and all of her family having fled Ukraine in the wake of the war it would be an understatement to say that Daria has very little to return to if she does not gain permanent residency in the UK , a prospect that would only cause her more distress and despair.    

“Most of the time Daria is crying and every single day she goes to the grave. She still doesn't even believe that it is true. She believes that Vlada is going to come home from hospital. They came to get rid of the beds. In Daria's religion, Greek Orthodox, they have to have 40 days mourning before you do anything. They took away the bed on January 20. They also had to  give back Daria's mobility car. This was based on Vlada. All of these things are a wee bit like losing another bit of Vlada. It is very raw. Daria is a very strong lady, as is proven taking her child from Ukraine to a country where she did not speak another language. Her daddy has died in Ukraine, her mother lives in Poland . She does not want to go back to Ukraine with no one their. She wants to be here. 

 ”She will get through it but she doesn't need extra pressures.”

The Home Office was contacted  to learn what criteria Daria would have to meet in order to be granted permanent residency in Northern Ireland.

We have yet to receive a response at the time of this paper going to print.