More than 1000 people helped at the Red Cross RAI reception location ANP
More than a thousand refugees have now been received at a Red Cross reception location in the RAI in Amsterdam, a spokeswoman for the aid organization reported on Sunday. At the location, which has been open since Wednesday evening, refugees from Ukraine, among others, are received, registered and referred to a place within or outside the Amsterdam region. That is initially a hotel or hostel.
According to the Red Cross, people often arrive there tired and hungry after a long journey. The organization provides them with food and drink before they are transferred to shelters. According to the spokeswoman, it concerns mothers with children, but also older men or young couples. Russians who are stranded also report to the RAI. This concerns, for example, students or truck drivers who can no longer access their bank account. As a result, they cannot pay for their return journey, but also cannot go anywhere else in the Netherlands, according to the spokeswoman.
Such a reception location, a so-called Humanitarian Service Point, has also been set up by the Red Cross at Utrecht Central Station.
In addition to emergency shelter by municipalities and security regions, work is also being done on shelter at private individuals. The Red Cross, the Netherlands Council for Refugees and the Salvation Army are currently looking into whether refugees can be linked to families that have registered. They have to manage the reception by host families and do this at the request of the Ministry of Justice and Security.