Freiburg/Stuttgart (dpa/lsw) – They were traveling in several buses for days and are now safe in Freiburg: 167 children from the care home near Kiev and 30 carers have been evacuated from a children’s home near Kiev on the initiative of the evangelical city mission . The youngest child is a few months old.
Mayor Martin Horn describes their dramatic escape in emotional words on Sunday: “It was up and down, stuck in the Ukraine. There were two complete bus failures. Ultimately, we then got them through Poland to Dresden, where they against arrived midnight.” There was a short break in Dresden, the children, young people and their carers switched buses and continued their journey to southern Baden. They are accommodated, fed and given medical care in various facilities in Freiburg. All have been tested for Corona and can communicate with the help of interpreters.
The children come from the home “Father’s House” near Kiev. The evangelical city mission has been committed to this children’s home for years and had asked the city to make it possible for the young people to be accommodated in the city. “We are doing our best and are very happy that four buses have now arrived with almost 200 people,” said Horn.
Because of the dramatic situation in Ukraine, Baden-Württemberg prepared for more refugees at the weekend. The Ministry of Migration, the District Council, the City Council and the Municipal Council, as well as the four regional councils, agreed to initially accommodate Ukrainian refugees in the country’s initial reception facilities. An alternative would have been to distribute these immediately to the districts. “The state initial reception facilities will take on the function of a first point of contact for all arrivals who are not staying with relatives or friends,” reads the agreement.
It was also agreed that a Covid-19 vaccination should be offered to all arrivals as soon as possible. Under the direction of Migration State Secretary Siegfried Lorek (CDU), the newly established staff “Refugees from Ukraine” should also meet daily from Monday. A spokesman for the Ministry of Migration said on Sunday that Ukrainian nationals who were already staying in Baden-Württemberg without a visa could obtain permission from the immigration authorities for a further stay. Ukrainian citizens can enter Germany without a visa for 90 days.
Those involved agreed to do everything possible to ensure an orderly and coordinated reception of the refugees – including people who are staying with relatives or friends, the statement said. “At the moment it is not foreseeable how many people will flee to Baden-Württemberg from Putin’s war, when and to what extent.” The United Nations assumes almost 300,000 refugees. Tens of thousands have already escaped to EU countries, some to Germany.
In several cities in the southwest, people expressed their solidarity with Ukraine and spoke out against war over the weekend. According to the police, around 800 people gathered in Freiburg, and according to the city there were around 3,000 in Stuttgart. Stuttgart’s Mayor Frank Nopper said: “In these difficult times, our hearts are colored in the Ukrainian national colors of blue and yellow. We stand very firmly by the On the side of Ukraine, also on the side of those who have to flee Ukraine because of the war.”
It is important that all actors in the southwest work closely and pragmatically together, said SPD parliamentary group and state leader Andreas Stoch. “We are all counting on people who are fleeing this war to our country being taken in without any ifs or buts.” Taking in refugees is the best help that Baden-Württemberg can provide. “This political catastrophe must not also become a humanitarian catastrophe,” said Stoch. There are four state initial reception facilities in Baden-Württemberg: in Ellwangen, Karlsruhe, Freiburg and Sigmaringen and the arrival center in Heidelberg.
© dpa-infocom, dpa:220227-99-310251/4
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