Up to 930 Ukrainian nationals had found refuge on board the “Méditerranée” ferry in the port of Marseille. And yet, this Friday, June 10, the remaining 683 are forced to leave, not without misunderstanding.
Behind the gates of the seaport, Olga has her eyes riveted on the ferry. Inside, her family whom she welcomed at the beginning of the war at her home. But for lack of space and privacy, his niece and cousin left to settle on the boat several weeks ago. A true haven of peace for many Ukrainian refugees.
“These are not people who take advantage of the French system. My cousin got a job contract in a retirement home three days ago. And my niece, who has two children, had a car accident, this n It’s not his fault. But they will now be on the streets from today. I’ve been crying for a week because I don’t know how to help my own family.” explains the Ukrainian, her blonde hair pulled back and her gaze hidden behind her sunglasses.
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Because, after more than two months of existence, it is an entire floating village that is about to fly apart. The one imagined by the maritime company Corsica Linea, financed by the French State and installed in a boat at the quay in the Marseille city. “Méditerranée”, moored since March 29, must disembark and send the refugees back to other reception sites.
The reason ? The agreement with the Bouches-du-Rhône prefecture ends on this date. It was a “transitional reception solution” she said in a statement. This 500-cabin ferry is once again resuming service on the Marseille-Algiers line.
Result: hundreds of families (about 600 Ukrainians) find themselves distraught when they felt until then protected, housed, restored with social, medical and employment support. With, as a bonus, daycare and French training.
Suitcases in her hands, Kristina is about to discover her new home after spending two months in a cabin on the ferry.
“It’s a very difficult situation for us because many of us have jobs, our children in school or some of the health problems. And those have no place to go even though they have to leave the ship in a few hours. Me, I’m very lucky because my family got an apartment in a district of Marseille. I don’t know what it looks like, I’m going to see it for the first time” launches the young woman, her hair braided with blue extensions.
Before continuing, in English: “I feel bad, believe me! It’s terrible because we’re not in our country. We tried to get our bearings and now we have to leave. We live in constant stress. I have a friend who has a job in Marseille and who has been assigned accommodation at the other end of the city. Everyone keeps telling him that it’s not their problem!”
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For her part, Kristina studies during the week and works at weekends. The only problem: she has to transfer her daughter from one Marseille school to another.
After Île-de-France, the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region is the second in France to welcome the most Ukrainian nationals since the start of the war. Today, however, all accommodation sites in the Bouches-du-Rhône department.
The prefecture has therefore announced that they will be moved to other regions. Six in total: New Aquitaine, Occitanie, Hauts-de-France, Grand-Est and the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Bourgogne-Franche-Comté regions.
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