Ukrainians who fled to UK being refused asylum on grounds it is ‘safe to return’
-Law firm says it hears weekly from Ukrainians, including vulnerable women and children, who were turned down

逃到英国的乌克兰人被拒绝庇护,理由是“可以安全返回”
——律师事务所表示,他们每周都会收到乌克兰人的来信,其中包括被拒绝的弱势妇女和儿童


(Oleksandr Zbytskyi, his wife, Viktoriia Zbytska, and eight-year-old son Vladimir in Cardiff.)

(亚历山大·兹比茨基,他的妻子维多利亚·兹比茨基和8岁的儿子弗拉基米尔在卡迪夫。)

新闻:
Ukrainians who fled to the UK after the Russian invasion are being refused asylum by the Home Office on the grounds it is safe to return to Ukraine.

在俄罗斯入侵后逃到英国的乌克兰人被英国内政部拒绝提供庇护,理由是返回乌克兰是安全的。

Families are trying to obtain a route to settlement, which would enable them to build a life in the UK, commit their children to a British education and improve their prospects for jobs and housing. Some feel they have nothing to return to as they are from areas razed by conflict.

这些家庭正试图找到一条定居的途径,使他们能够在英国建立生活,让孩子接受英国教育,并改善他们的就业和住房前景。有些人觉得他们从被冲突夷为平地的地区过来,没有什么可回去的。

One told the Guardian they had been refused asylum on grounds they could relocate elsewhere in Ukraine, despite their home town being a war zone.

其中一人告诉《卫报》,他们被拒绝庇护,理由是他们可以在乌克兰其他地方定居,尽管他们的家乡是战区。

The firm Sterling Law said it was contacted weekly by Ukrainians, including vulnerable women and children, whose applications had been refused. The firm is working on several appeals, which bring waits of several months during which Ukrainians are left in limbo.

斯特林法律事务所表示,每周都有乌克兰人联系他们,其中包括弱势妇女和儿童,他们的申请被拒绝了。该公司正在处理几项上诉,这些上诉会让乌克兰人等上几个月,在这段时间里,乌克兰人一直处于不确定状态。

Although Ukrainians are able to remain for 18 months through the temporary visa scheme, the uncertainty about their living arrangements is compounding anxiety and distress.

虽然乌克兰人可以通过临时签证计划逗留18个月,但他们生活安排的不确定性加剧了他们的焦虑和痛苦。

Halyna Semchak, an immigration lawyer at Sterling Law, said she was working with a single mother from Nikopol, a town which has been largely destroyed, a visually impaired man and the parent of a child born in the UK.

斯特林律师事务所的移民律师哈利娜·塞姆查克表示,她正在与一位来自尼科波尔(一个已被大面积摧毁的城镇)的单身母亲,和一名孩子出生在英国的视力受损的男子合作。

Their refusal letters typically state that the conflict-related risks do not meet the threshold for persecution under the refugee convention, as they can relocate to safer parts of Ukraine where there are public services, and they can apply for help from the United Nations high commissioner for refugees (UNHCR) and local organisations to avoid destitution.

他们的拒绝信通常表示,与冲突相关的风险不符合难民公约规定的迫害门槛,因为他们可以搬迁到乌克兰更安全的地区,那里有公共服务,他们可以申请联合国难民事务高级专员办事处和当地组织的帮助,以避免贫困。

She said this was a “concerning and growing trend” caused by upxes made in January to the UK Home Office’s guidance, which now deems regions such as Kyiv and western Ukraine to be “generally safe”. She has observed that fewer of the asylum claims she works on have been successful since the upxe.

她表示,这是一个“令人担忧且日益增长的趋势”,原因是英国内政部今年1月更新了指南,现在认为基辅和乌克兰西部等地区“总体上是安全的”。她注意到,自指南更新以来,她所处理的庇护申请成功的案例越来越少。

“This assessment runs counter to the reality of life on the ground in Ukraine. I think any rational person would understand that Ukraine remains in the midst of a violent war, with attacks intensifying in recent months. Our clients would clearly face grave risks including bombardment, conscxtion, family separation and the psychological trauma of war if they were to return to Ukraine today,” she said.

“这种评估与乌克兰当地的现实生活背道而驰。我认为,任何理性的人都会明白,乌克兰仍处于一场暴力战争之中,近几个月来袭击事件不断加剧。如果他们今天回到乌克兰,我们的客户显然会面临严重的风险,包括轰炸、征兵、家庭分离和战争的心理创伤,”她说。

“Legally, these decisions are deeply troubling. They overlook the complex realities on the ground and fail to engage meaningfully with individual circumstances, particularly in light of article 3 and 8 of the European convention on human rights [which protect the rights to protection from harm and to liberty].”

“从法律上讲,这些决定令人深感不安。他们忽视了当地复杂的现实情况,未能有效地处理个人情况,特别是根据《欧洲人权公约》第3条和第8条[保护免受伤害和自由的权利]。”

She urged the government to reassess the guidance. “Until that happens, people fleeing war and instability will continue to be let down by a system that purports to protect them,” she said.

她敦促政府重新评估该指导意见。她说:“在他们纠正这些做法之前,逃离战争和不稳定的人们将继续对一个声称要保护他们的制度感到失望。”

Oleksandr Zbytskyi was refused asylum despite being from Odesa in southern Ukraine, a war zone subject to infrastructure blackouts. While the Home Office was considering his application, five people died in a missile attack.

尽管亚历山大·兹比茨基来自乌克兰南部的敖德萨,但他的庇护申请被拒绝。敖德萨是一个受基础设施停电影响的战区。就在内政部考虑他的申请时,有五人死于导弹袭击。

Zbytskyi and his family have been in the UK since August 2022. He wants his son, who was four-years-old when he arrived in the UK and speaks better English than Ukrainian, to continue at school and for his wife to keep receiving treatment for anxiety, depression and panic attacks.

兹比茨基和他的家人自2022年8月以来一直在英国。他希望儿子能继续上学,希望妻子能继续接受治疗,治疗焦虑、抑郁和恐慌症。他刚到英国时儿子才4岁,英语说得比乌克兰语还好。

Every member of his close family has died, some fighting on the frontline, others because they could not access medical treatment. If he returns, he may be drafted into the military.

他的所有近亲都死了,有些人在前线作战,有些人则因为无法获得治疗而死亡。如果他回来,他可能会应征入伍。

“It was really unexpected to achieve rejection … Who is willing to take their child and bring them back to the country where there is a full-scale war?” Zbytskyi said.

“遭到拒绝真的是出乎意料……谁愿意把他们的孩子带回到一个全面战争的国家?” 兹比茨基说。

“We are depressed about this because it’s affected all our family. I can’t do anything at the moment because of everything in my head. I can’t even sleep. This is a really terrible situation.

“我们对此感到很沮丧,因为这影响到我们全家。我现在什么都做不了,因为我脑子里满是东西。我甚至无法入睡。这真是一个可怕的情况。

“[My son] has already started his mental relocation to UK society. I don’t want to create another stress for him and for my wife. I know that it’s very, very important to live a normal life.”

“(我儿子)已经开始在精神上重新融入英国社会。我不想再给他和我妻子制造压力。我知道过正常的生活非常非常重要。”

Kama Petruczenko, a senior policy analyst at the Refugee Council, said he was concerned that the Ukraine guidance “is not currently flexible enough to best reflect the difficulties in quickly assessing regional safety in every single application”.

难民理事会高级政策分析师卡玛·彼得鲁岑科表示,他担心乌克兰指导方针“目前不够灵活,无法最好地反映出在每一项申请中快速评估地区安全的困难”。

The latest Home Office figures suggest that 47 asylum applications have resulted in refugee status and 724 in humanitarian protection since 2023.

英国内政部的最新数据显示,自2023年以来,有47份庇护申请获得了难民身份,724份获得了人道主义保护。

A Home Office spokesperson said: “Since Vladimir Putin’s illegal invasion, we have offered or extended sanctuary to over 300,000 Ukrainians and the Homes for Ukraine scheme remains open for those who wish to come to the UK.

英国内政部发言人表示:“自普京非法入侵以来,我们已经为30多万乌克兰人提供或延长了庇护,‘乌克兰之家’计划仍然对那些希望来英国的人开放。

“All asylum and human rights claims are carefully considered on their individual merits in accordance with our international obligations. No one who is found to be at risk of serious harm will be expected to return to Ukraine.”

“根据我们的国际义务,所有庇护和人权要求都将根据其个别情况进行仔细审议。任何被发现有严重伤害风险的人都不会返回乌克兰。”