News item | 20-04-2022 | 21:28
Due to the joint efforts of people in security regions and municipalities, about 41,000 reception places for refugees from Ukraine have currently been realized. This means that the first 50,000 reception places are almost a fact. Of these beds, almost 31,000 are now occupied by refugees: an occupancy of approximately 75% of the available capacity. That fact and the unpredictability of the war and the number of refugees coming to the Netherlands means that we must be prepared to offer shelter to more than 50,000 refugees in the short term.
In addition to the reception that is supervised by the government, many thousands of people also stay with friends, family, host families or in hotels.
We remain ready for everyone who has fled from Ukraine to the Netherlands. That is why the Ministerial Committee on Crisis Management (MCCb) for the reception of refugees from Ukraine took the following decisions today.
Education
It has been decided that municipalities will receive money to arrange student transport for students from Ukraine who do not live close to school. There will also be extra money for schools that have experience in teaching Ukrainian students, to help other schools with this. We are also working on a bill to help school boards and municipalities with temporary educational facilities, even if it is difficult to organize in a region. These facilities are necessary if there is no space (anymore) at the regular schools.
Organization of the availability of care
Refugees from Ukraine have a special status, which means that access to health care has to be organized in a different way. They do not fall under the Medical Care Regulations for Asylum Seekers and cannot take out health insurance (unless the refugee goes to work). In order to properly organize the availability of medical and long-term care, it has been decided that the State Secretary for Justice and Security is responsible for organizing the availability of care. This is comparable to his responsibility for asylum seekers.
With the support of the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport, the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport works together with health insurers on the implementation of an implementation contract, as is also the case for asylum seekers. The basic principle here is to copy existing systems, contracts and entitlements as much as possible, as is also included in the Regulations on Medical Care for Asylum Seekers. In the interim period, the subsidy scheme for medically necessary care for the uninsured (SOV) can be used and urgent work is carried out to minimize the administrative burden for healthcare providers. The first steps have already been taken in this regard.