The war in Ukraine has now been going on for more than fifty days, which means that many Dutch reception families have had one or more refugees in their home for weeks. Assenaar Harm Bootsman made an effort just after the outbreak of the war to give Ukrainians a place here. Until today he has managed to arrange shelter for 220 war families.
The second day after Russia invaded Ukraine, Boatswain left for the war zone himself. “I came back with 22 families, then I went to get the next group.” In this way he ended up in Kharkov, Mariupol, Kiev and Lviv. “In this way I turned off many connections,” says Bootsman in the Radio Drenthe program cassata.
Because of these contacts, Bootsman has an important role in arranging shelter. He not only approaches private individuals, but also ensures that the refugees receive a BSN number, after which everything gets started, such as education and assigning a GP. “The lines are short, that’s why I sometimes get more done than government agencies.”
Boatswain’s involvement may be due to his girlfriend, who is of Ukrainian descent. But he also noticed from his environment that people were committed to the war refugees. He saw that shelter places were quickly becoming available. “In the beginning, finding a place was very easy, everyone was ready for the people. At the moment you see more of a wait-and-see attitude. People think: what is the government going to do now?”
By this, the Assenaar does not mean to say that the reception families are starting to get a little tired of the Ukrainians. “In my opinion, the government is doing too little, and people sometimes want peace and quiet. The families are like: find a permanent place for these people.”
Harm Bootsman and Aly Kampinga talk about their experiences with sheltering Ukrainians: