There are trains full of people. Some of them are away for days. Mostly mothers with babies. Children. Old. Some cry. Many have no more tears. Those arriving now no longer only heard the war from afar. You were right in the middle. They had to leave almost everything behind. Beloved relatives, friends. That’s how they get here, the people from Ukraine. And the Berliners care.
Several thousand refugees arrived at Berlin Central Station again on Saturday, most of them between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. On Friday alone there were 11,000. That everyone gets accommodation, overnight stays or the opportunity to continue their journey – this is ensured by the many, many helpers in their bright vests on site.
Everyone who gets off here is greeted with a smile. There are stalls with food, drinks. Clothing to take away is offered everywhere. Shoes stand neatly together in pairs, waiting for new owners. Even play corners for the little ones have been thought of. Children sit there, paint pictures, climb up a small slide and chew gummy bears. And for a moment the war is forgotten.
Because it was clear again on Saturday that the authorities alone would not be able to find overnight accommodation for everyone, Berliners were once again called on social networks to come to the train station.
“In close coordination with the Senate Department for Integration, Labor and Social Affairs, we have therefore decided to call on you again directly to offer your accommodation at the main train station,” said the #Accommodation Ukraine team.
And the Berliners have been standing there for days. hundreds. With large signs showing the number of sleeping places. On site is then mediated immediately. The voluntary helpers are now supported by the BVG, the railway and the Berlin police.
More and more buses with Ukrainian refugees are also arriving at the Reinickendorf arrival center on the site of the former Bonheoffer mental hospital. During the night, emergency services from the THW, the fire brigade and the DRK set up warming tents there.
► More than 11,000 Ukraine refugees arrived in Berlin on Friday
► Migration researcher Knaus expects up to ten million refugees from Ukraine
Since more people from the war zones are expected in the coming weeks, Berlin’s Governing Mayor Franziska Giffey has urgently called for help from the federal government: “The admission of people from Ukraine is a national task.”
The federal government must also urgently take action via the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) “and create a nationwide distribution system, otherwise Berlin will reach the limits of its capacity”.