Ukraine refugees at Munich Central Station: Helpers work at the limit

Created: 2022-03-21Updated: 2022-03-21, 8:45 p.m

By: Thomas Eldersch

Several trains with refugees from Ukraine arrive in Munich every day.

There they are welcomed by numerous helpers.

However, the first signs of fatigue are showing.

Munich – The current does not break off.

More and more refugees from Ukraine are arriving at Munich Central Station.

Many are exhausted and do not know how to continue.

In order to at least make it a little easier for them to arrive in the Bavarian state capital, dozens of helpers are on duty every day.

Caritas runs a stand at the train station, but after almost four weeks of war it has now reached its limit itself.

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Ukraine war: Refugee workers experience the full range of human problems

The voluntary and full-time helpers often experience touching fates.

Alfons Utz, Head of Building Management at Caritas Munich, can also report on this.

In an interview with

and

, he spoke of "births during flight, also miscarriages during flight and illnesses in children." have to.

Yesterday afternoon I found out that a larger train with hearing-impaired people had arrived.

So the whole range of social or human problems that we can imagine here in Germany also come with the refugees here.”

Alfons Utz sacrifices his free time to help people from the Ukraine war zone.

© Screenshot, video interview merkur.de

Not always easy for the helpers to deal with.

According to Utz, there is no “fixed script” for such cases.

Everything has to be re-coordinated and organized.

"We've also had to improvise a lot in the last three weeks.

But we're still improvising because the situation is so flexible that we can't install any fixed structures.

Because we often have new information and new situations every day that we have to adapt to,” says Utz.

Ukraine conflict: helpers are now reaching their limits

The work – no matter how fulfilling it may be – also strains the constitution and psyche of the helpers.

"The first signs of exhaustion among the helpers are inevitable." But they want to continue as long as it is needed, Utz continues.

“But of course we have limits, both with the full-time employees and with the volunteers.

We do all this alongside our main job, try to cut it out and organize the work elsewhere, and it's no different with the volunteers.

We are already noticing the first signs of fatigue among our volunteers, who also speak Ukrainian.” At some point, they would also have to go on with their normal lives.

According to the Caritas employee, they too are exhausted by the very high level of commitment.

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“No one knows how long the conflict over Ukraine will last.

So it is to be hoped that the helpers and aid organizations, who are so valuable in these difficult times, will have the strength to continue to be there for the refugees," Utz concludes.

It is not really clear how many refugees from Ukraine have now arrived in Bavaria.

Not all have registered.

Across Germany, 225,357 people are currently spoken.