"It's the first time I've seen tenants like this! They are nice, the apartment is remarkably clean... A resident of Avon, Antoine does not hide his satisfaction when he talks about the family of four Ukrainians he has been hosting free of charge since March 2022 in an unoccupied home he owns in his commune. "The father found a job in a garage in Nemours, the mother takes care of the children aged 6 and 15. They are independent. It's going well! »
The reception of Ukrainian refugees in Seine-et-Marne are figures, but also testimonies that individuals gave us after a meeting, Wednesday evening, at the prefecture in Melun. The prefect Lionel Beffre wanted to publicly thank the commitment of associations, individuals, communities and state services that made this welcome possible in our department.
According to the French Office for Immigration and Integration (OFII), out of "115,000 welcomed or who have transited through the France", 1,500 have been welcomed in Seine-et-Marne to benefit from temporary protection valid for six months and renewable for up to two years. 1,100 permits have been issued, entitling them to the asylum seeker's allowance, universal health protection, free transport, schooling for children, etc.
In Chelles, Bruno and Marie-Do have been housing refugees since March 2022
The Integrated Reception and Orientation Service (SIAO 77), which manages 115, has been responsible for the accommodation of Ukrainian refugees. To animate the telephone platform Emergency Ukraine, its director, Priscille Ventura, benefited from the unexpected support of Anna, 32, a Belarusian who has been living in France for five years. "We live in the same neighbourhood. I got to know her walking my dog because she was taking hers out. I told him about what was happening. Anna speaks Ukrainian and wanted to help. She was strong enough to carry this platform and guide people," says Priscille Ventura.
"I have friends in Ukraine. The war shocked me. Families who needed accommodation were happy for me to explain to them in their language how to do it. People also call to talk," says Anna, on a fixed-term contract from mid-March 2022 to September 2023. And a permanent contract in perspective.
Melun, May 24, 2023. Director of SIAO 77, Priscille Ventura appreciates the role of Anna, a Belarusian who has been living in Seine-et-Marne for five years, to welcome and guide refugees on the Urgence Ukraine platform. LP/Sophie Bordier
According to the prefecture, as of May 23, 125 people are still accommodated in collective structures and hotels, 132 are housed via local authorities, 39 by the State within the former gendarmerie of La Ferté-Gaucher and about 70 housed on spontaneous offers from individuals. The others only transited through Seine-et-Marne and left for other departments or countries.
Retired in Chelles, Bruno and Marie-Do were involved from the beginning of the conflict. A self-catering studio was available at the bottom of their garden. After hosting a young couple from Mariupol from March to September 2022, they have been welcoming a student from Odessa since October 2022. She is the age of our grandchildren. If it were my granddaughter, I would be happy to know that someone far from here would receive her at home. She decided to leave her war-torn country to continue her studies. She works on her computer and speaks Oxford English with us! Marie-Do smiles.
261 Ukrainian children are currently attending school in Seine-et-Marne
Director of the departmental Red Cross, which checked the adaptation of housing before their allocation, Claude Philippon evokes "several hundred people who have proposed a room or several rooms in their place of life. A lady living in an F 2 wanted to make her room available and sleep on the sofa. She said she wouldn't mind because she left early in the morning and came home late at night! »
Melun, May 24, 2023. Surrounded by Lionel Beffre, Prefect of Seine-et-Marne, Alain Bléton, Departmental Director of Employment, Labour and Solidarity, and Valérie Debuchy, Academic Director of the National Education Services in Seine-et-Marne, Ukrainian musician Vladimir, originally from Kharkiv, played the emblematic "La vie en rose" by Edith Piaf on soprano saxophone. LP/Sophie Bordier
The prefect also thanks the Red Cross, the Restos du Cœur, the Secours populaire et Catholique, etc., for the food aid provided...
In terms of education, 261 Ukrainian children are currently enrolled in Seine-et-Marne, including 55 in kindergarten and 104 in elementary in 95 schools, 81 in 41 middle schools and 21 in 10 high schools, including two vocational schools. The academic director of the national education services in Seine-et-Marne, Valérie Debuchy, stresses the "adaptability" of young Ukrainians and their level in mathematics, "better than that of France students".
