As of: February 24, 2024, 10:00 a.m
By: Andreas Höger
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Press
Split
Meeting point in the learning café: Every Wednesday, Ukrainian families come together in the rooms of the Holzkirchen Community Foundation to learn German in a playful way and to make contacts.
Our picture shows Sibylle König from the community foundation with language students.
© Thomas Plettenberg
Two years after the start of the Russian attack, almost 1,000 Ukrainians live in the district.
The Holzkirchen Community Foundation assumes that many will stay.
Integration is going slowly - which could also be due to the fact that financial support is not going to the right place.
Holzkirchen – Exactly 946 Ukrainians are currently registered in the district, well over half (596) are women, according to the district office;
299 children and young people fled, mostly accompanied by their mother.
As Theresa Andrich from the press office of the district office explains, the number of Ukrainians has fallen by 215 people since February 2023.
The numbers have recently remained stable, with only a slight upward trend.
Almost all refugees are accommodated in apartments;
35 people had to be quartered in the Miesbach high school gymnasium and 24 in a collective accommodation in Fischbachau.
According to the district office, almost all adults are not yet of retirement age;
over half (533 people) receive citizen's benefit.
“We cannot determine from our data how many are in paid work,” says Andrich.
Help with integration
“Most Ukrainians I know of work or would like to work here,” says Sibylle König from the Holzkirchen Community Foundation.
Many refugees have been accommodated in and around the market town since the beginning of the war;
The community foundation helps them on a voluntary basis in their everyday lives and offers assistance with integration.
According to the district office, many refugees emphasize that they want to return home.
König comes to different conclusions: “Many will stay here permanently.” She estimates that two thirds see no prospect of returning: “Their cities are destroyed.
There’s no home left for them to go back to.”
The community foundation has therefore set new priorities in its aid to Ukraine.
The fifth and final aid convoy was set off in the summer of 2023.
“Our impression is that the acute need has been met,” says König.
In addition, Maxim, whose volunteer group distributed Holzkirchner aid in Ukraine, was injured in a traffic accident.
The foundation is now concentrating its voluntary work on “lines of action” for the integration of Ukrainians, such as a “Learning Cafe” for children, job placement or language courses in small groups.
Language as a key
“Language is the decisive key,” believes König.
There are official language courses, but they often have too many participants;
It is therefore hardly possible to acquire the language skills required for the job market.
“In our small courses we notice that more individual support is needed.” She is convinced that Ukrainians can help to relieve the pressure on the regional labor market.
“We need workers.” Refugees from Ukraine work in bakeries in the area, as fashion salespeople, as accountants, as educators, as tilers.
“It would help a lot if we provided more tailored support,” advises König.
Trying to place a professor in a cleaning position, as has already happened, could be avoided.
In order to create the right incentives for Ukrainians, the federal government should rethink its financial aid, suggests König.
She could imagine limiting citizens' money to three months, but then switching the support to targeted funding and demands.
“If you attend a course in the morning, you can work in the afternoon,” says König.
This makes it clear to the refugees that “we in Germany help, but we also expect you to get involved.”
A state-financed coordination center, as a contact point between Ukrainians and employers and authorities on the other hand, could be helpful here.
Personal encounters
Personal encounters with refugees, like those provided by the community foundation, are even more valuable.
“That dispels fears,” says König.
However, experience has shown that these processes need to be well supported, “otherwise many people will feel overwhelmed.”
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Also read: How a Schliersee school principal deals with the language barriers of Ukrainian students.
Also interesting: How a refugee family found a new home in Bad Wiessee.