Private apartments also wanted: Bavaria is preparing for refugees from Ukraine - "You have to help these people"

Created: 02/26/2022, 21:53

By: Thomas Eldersch

After the escalation of the Ukraine crisis, Bavaria is preparing to take in refugees.

Interior Minister Herrmann spoke of "European solidarity".

Munich - Russia's invasion of Ukraine came unexpectedly and quickly.

Politicians reacted just as quickly and offered their help.

Already on Thursday - the day the Ukraine crisis escalated - Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) and Munich Mayor Dieter Reiter (SPD) were shocked by the events.

A short time later, the Ukrainian flag was hoisted in front of the State Chancellery.

Many municipalities in Bavaria also signaled their willingness to help people in Ukraine early on.

Donations in kind were collected in many places and aid convoys to the east were prepared.

But the mayors in Bavaria have already dealt with the issue of refugees.

Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann also commented on the Ukraine war.

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Escalation in the Ukraine crisis: Interior Minister Herrmann wants to help refugees

"It is now obvious that these are war refugees, and it is also obvious that these people have to be helped, also in European solidarity," said Herrmann in Munich.

A spokesman for his ministry then added.

“We have already written to the municipalities and requested an inventory.

You want to get an overview of the number of accesses you can currently handle.” But also what maximum capacity could be managed by setting up the appropriate structures and how long it would take to set them up.

"We already have some experience from around 2015."

Parallel to the efforts of the Ministry of the Interior, numerous counties and cities have already started preparing to take in Ukrainian refugees.

The district of Oberallgäu is already ready to accommodate up to 400 people in emergency accommodation at short notice.

For this purpose, the gymnasium of the Immenstadt vocational school is to be prepared first.

War in Ukraine: Munich wants to take in up to 1,500 refugees

In and around Munich, too, those responsible are preparing to take in people from the Ukraine.

The district administrator of the Munich district, Christoph Göbel, meanwhile called on the population to help: “If you have space to take in refugees from Ukraine, whether in private houses, apartments or other suitable accommodation options that are currently available, report them please to us."

The city of Munich can provide around 500 places to accommodate refugees at short notice.

Another 1000 places are currently being prepared, it said.

Sufficient medical capacities could also be made available.

“We already showed in 2015 that we can help quickly and professionally.

We can now fall back on these structures and experiences,” emphasized Mayor Dieter Reiter (SPD).

Ukraine crisis escalates: Bavaria's largest cities show solidarity

The willingness to help is great across the country.

Nuremberg - where more than 4000 Ukrainians live - has already acted.

"The registration and immigration authorities have already been prepared, the legal and organizational preparations have been made in coordination with the authorities of the Free State.

The Office for Migration has already set up a notice on the city's website with important links for Ukrainian citizens," said a city spokesman.

You can not only take in refugees who are distributed via a Germany-wide key, but also friends and relatives of people living in Nuremberg, the spokesman continued.

There are currently no municipal accommodations available in the neighboring city of Fürth.

"But we are already starting to look for other solutions," emphasized the city.

"We are ready to do our part," emphasized Augsburg's Mayor Eva Weber (CSU).

The city has the capacity to take in refugees from Ukraine.

The municipality and the Ukrainian association in Augsburg are also in contact with each other in order to initiate concrete aid measures for the city society.

A donation account has already been set up.

"I had hoped to the last that diplomacy would win and that we had learned from the past that there are always losers in a war," said Würzburg's Mayor Christian Schuchardt (CDU) justifying the aid efforts.

"I had hoped that our generation would be spared what our parents and grandparents had to tell us."