73 children from an evacuated orphanage near Chernobyl are expected today in St. Georgen im Attergau. You will be accommodated in the former sanatorium.
So far, the war has only been visible in the media, but now its victims are coming to us. “The first women and children who have fled are already in our city,” says Vöcklabruck Mayor Peter Schobesberger (SPÖ). “They are relatives of Ukrainians living here.”
The first families are already there
The mayors are anticipating and preparing for a huge influx of refugees in the coming weeks and months – larger than in 2015. Schobesberger recently invited representatives of all parliamentary groups and aid organizations to a “Ukraine crisis talks” in Vöcklabruck, in which it was clarified where the best possible place to accommodate those seeking protection and how they can then be cared for.
In Gmunden, the first refugees to arrive (two women with a total of three children) were accommodated in community-owned apartments in the sports hall. “We’re not just waiting to see what happens, we’re starting all the preparations,” says Mayor Stefan Krapf (ÖVP). “It’s about acting quickly.”
That’s why the “Welcome Gmunden” aid network, which was founded in 2015 and has since been shut down, is meeting again tonight. “We will use the structures that we built up during the Syrian war again,” said Krapf. “It’s about topics like language lessons or childcare – but also about informing the population how they can help.”
Next Tuesday, a Ukraine coordination committee will meet for the first time in the town hall, in which the city politicians, those responsible for the town hall, the emergency services, the social market and the service clubs will be represented. “The left hand must know what the right hand is doing, this is the only way we can offer help efficiently,” says Krapf, who is pleased that many Gmundners have already offered their help.
Source: Nachrichten
