Russia refugees not yet in sight

Created: 09/30/2022, 06:00

By: Hans Moritz

Thousands of Russians are fleeing their own country.

They don't want to be burned by Putin in Ukraine.

© Jussi Nukari/dpa

Over 260,000 Russians have already fled their homeland.

They don't want to be sent to the Ukraine war by Putin.

The question now is: does the growing stream of refugees from the giant empire reach the district of Erding?

At least not until now.

Erding - "Since the partial mobilization, no Russian refugees have arrived here," explains district office spokeswoman Claudia Fiebrandt-Kirmeyer when asked by our newspaper.

There are a few asylum seekers from Russia, "but they came to us before the Ukraine conflict".

Volunteers working with refugees are not expecting a large number of Russians seeking protection for the time being.

"At the moment, many are fleeing to Kazakhstan and Finland," explains Stephan Glaubitz, spokesman for the Asylum Erding action group.

However, he does not want to rule out the possibility that Russians will also come to Erding if their number continues to increase and the border regions overrun.

"At the moment, Russians are having a hard time getting to Germany or Europe and the Schengen area," says Josef Kronseder from the Dorfen refugee aid agency.

"On the one hand, they need a visa, which is no longer so easy to obtain, especially now, and also requires a certain amount of time in advance." On the other hand, there is "no uniform attitude" in Europe regarding Russian refugees.

Kronseder reports that Germany is basically ready to accept them, but the Baltic countries want to seal off their borders.

According to his observation, Russians are currently fleeing mainly to countries for which they do not need a visa - Kazakhstan, Georgia or Mongolia.

However, the refugee aid in Dorfen already had contact with someone who was willing to leave the country.

“A young man who has just turned 18 wants to come to Dorfen, where he has already been as a visitor.

He is afraid that he will still be drafted into military service despite having just started his training,” reports Kronseder.

Now the regular way is to be taken via a visa - exit?

Open.

In principle, he does not believe that there will be a large flow of refugees from Russia into the region in the near future.

Fiebrandt-Kirmeyer reports that around 15 new refugees are currently arriving in Erdinger Land every week.

She puts the number of Ukrainian refugees at 1067. 439 lived in asylum accommodation and 628 in private apartments.

The district currently has 145 accommodations, including the two large communal quarters of the Upper Bavarian government in Dorfen and Oberding.

"We are still on the lookout for objects, also of larger dimensions, in order to be able to cope with a possibly stronger influx again," says Fiebrandt-Kirmeyer.

So far, one is one of the few regions that have managed without permanent use of gymnasiums or lightweight construction halls.

The gymnasium of the Dorfen grammar school, which has been kept free since the spring as an overflow reception center for Ukraine refugees but has not been needed up to now, can be used again for school sports.

"But she is kept on standby," said the spokeswoman.

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