They always arrive every hour – by bus, train or car. Desperate war refugees seeking shelter in the capital.
According to estimates by the Senate Department for Social Affairs, more than 11,000 Ukrainians arrived in Berlin on Saturday. Many of them found private accommodation at the train station – with helpful Berliners who were waiting for them there.
In addition, buses have been bringing refugees from the main train station to 13 other federal states, apart from Bavaria and Hamburg, since Sunday.
720 Ukrainians were accommodated in the arrival center in Reinickendorf. There is a constant coming and going on the site of the former Bonhoeffer mental hospital. The police and volunteers are on constant duty.
There are currently 1300 sleeping places there, 200 of them in a container village. Even between the pews of the Dietrich Bonhoeffer Church on the site, 120 stranded Ukrainians slept on cots.
The refugees only stay for one night in the arrival center and are then driven to other federal states.
So on Saturday 400 of them came to Halberstadt (Saxony-Anhalt) and 280 to Brandenburg. The alliance of several organizations has under www.wohnung-ukraine.de 230,000 beds have already been collected. A sign of real solidarity for the people fleeing.
As for Anna (28) with daughter Nicole (2) and her mother Svetlana (57). Anna’s husband, Vasil (27), picked them up by car at the Ukrainian-Polish border and took them to Berlin in eleven hours. First they got a warm soup in the arrival center.
Then the volunteer Laura (26) took care of their accommodation in the container village. While the women and the child traveled on by bus to Frankfurt am Main, Vasil was on his way to the border again to fetch more refugees.
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Alexander Straßmeier (57), head of the State Office for Refugee Affairs (LAF), on the BZ: “At the moment we can still cope with the current situation.” He particularly praised the support from the Ukrainians living in Berlin.
50 volunteers help the local people, recognizable by their neon-colored vests. But many Berliners drop by spontaneously with food, clothing or toys.
However, the office can no longer accept donations at the moment and asks that you hand them in to the central logistics center in Hangar 1 at the former Tempelhof Airport.
The refugees have not yet been registered. From Monday you can register online at berlin.de book an appointment for registration.
Big help for the smallest refugees
The Berlin Senate wants to expand the capacities for unaccompanied minor refugees. Offers for Ukrainian orphans are to be made available in the long term. There are currently around 100 places in Berlin where unaccompanied minors receive socio-educational care.
In the current crisis, orphans and children in homes who are not formally considered unaccompanied because they arrive with carers are also coming. The accommodation costs should be covered for them.