Ukraine refugees in Miesbach: second group of helpers for targeted support

Created: 05/03/2022, 10:00 am

Grateful for the hospitality in Miesbach: the Fedorenko family with (from left) Anna, their daughter Miroslava, Nadiia and Anna.

© Stefan Schweihofer

The refugee helpers in Miesbach are repositioning themselves.

A second group of helpers has now been set up specifically for the refugees from Ukraine.

Regular meetings are planned.

Miesbach

– They are grateful for the hospitality, but do not want to take it up permanently: This is how the mood of the Ukrainian war refugees in Miesbach can be summed up, reports integration officer Inge Jooß from the meeting she organized in the restaurant in the Miesbach ice stadium.

The desire for an independent and independent life in their new temporary home was noticeable in all of the approximately 50 Ukrainian participants.

But Jooss and the other helpers present also had to show them the hurdles that stand in the way of realizing this wish.

However, the refugees are assured of the best possible support.

At the meeting, a good eight new helpers formed their own Ukraine helpers' group.

A coordinator has already been found.

According to Jooß, the existing group with around 20 regular employees will continue to look after the other refugees in Miesbach.

"It's important that we don't neglect anyone here," says the integration officer, explaining the organizational realignment.

Of course, we will still maintain a close exchange.

Few Ukrainians speak English

So did the refugees.

And so a lot of Ukrainian was heard in the TEV restaurant.

Significantly more than Jooß would have expected.

"We were all a bit surprised that so few of them can speak English." The need for German courses is all the greater, but the offer is limited.

The weekly courses at the adult education centers in the district are largely fully booked, reports Jooß.

After all, it was possible to carry out a few teaching units in the gyms.

Also read: Integration Commissioner warns of a two-class society

The Ukrainians are also so motivated to learn because they want to go to work as quickly as possible.

But here the next bottleneck is already waiting: They need childcare places for their children.

Here, too, the helpers had to step on the brakes on euphoria.

The waiting lists of the Miesbach facilities are sometimes long.

The desire of the refugees to soon be able to move into their own apartment seems almost utopian.

"You often cannot imagine how tense the situation on the local real estate market is," explains Jooß.

Refugees want independence

Ultimately, it became clear again and again at the meeting that the Ukrainian refugees – unlike, for example, asylum seekers from African countries – are used to a certain standard of living in their homeland.

They would not have lived there in luxury, but at least they would have lived independently in their own houses or apartments.

"They have to get used to the fact that they are dependent on others for the time being," says Jooß.

They would have been all the happier to meet their compatriots.

In this context, the integration officer would like to thank TEV Miesbach as host and sponsor of the drinks and the Perkmann bakery for the snack.

And she promises regular repeats.

But now the helpers first have to evaluate the questionnaires filled out by the refugees.

Jooss fears it will take a while, because: "They all answered them in Ukrainian."  

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