The emergency shelter in Linz Bindermichl was put into operation as a first-aid point, and a quarter was also opened in Freistadt, and further emergency shelters in Eferding, Laakirchen and Ried are being prepared. Caritas was commissioned by the state to set up a help point at Linz main station.
The help point should serve as the first point of contact for those who arrive. Here they receive information from Caritas employees and emergency shelters are arranged. If necessary, it could be expanded into a central coordination hub, the state said.
“The first aid center in Linz is now manned by Red Cross staff in order to offer Ukrainian refugees a place to sleep and care quickly and easily in urgent cases,” said Wolfgang Hattmannsdorfer (ÖVP), Minister for Social Affairs. The emergency shelter at Bindermichl is available around the clock. If the refugees want to stay in Austria, they will then be referred to another quarter by the first-aid center.
However, the emergency sleep offers are aimed at urgent cases. The state is appealing to refugee initiatives to contact the Federal Agency for Care and Support Services (BBU) as early as possible so that coordinated accommodation can be ensured.
Volkshilfe, commissioned by the state government to handle a donation campaign, sent the first trucks with relief supplies to Ukraine on Thursday. In its 22 shops, the organization collects donations such as hygiene items for babies and women, sleeping bags, blankets and medicines.
Hotlines for accommodation allocation
+43 1 2676 870 9460, information at www.bbu.gv.at/ukraine, hotline for private accommodation providers: +43 732 7720 – 16 200 or by e-mail to nachbarschaftshilfe@ooe.gv.at, information for the fundraising campaign of the State of Upper Austria and Volkshilfe Upper Austria at www.volkshilfe-ooe.at or by phone: +43 732 34050)
Source: Nachrichten
