It was set up in the former Biozentrum of the University of Vienna on Althanstrasse in Alsergrund. The center is intended as a contact point for people who are new to Vienna. They can also temporarily stay overnight in the adapted rooms.
As Vienna’s social councilor Peter Hacker (SPÖ) and the refugee coordinator of the federal government, Andreas Achrainer, explained, the arrival center has over 1,000 emergency sleeping places. The advice center in the Austria Center, which has existed for a long time, will remain on a smaller scale, namely for people who are already in basic care. A community center for people from the war zone is to be built in the previous arrival center, which was set up in a sports hall in the second district.
The new contact point is managed by the Red Cross and is permanently available around the clock. Organizations such as the Vienna Social Fund and Caritas are also active there. The executive will register those affected by the police. A stay in the new arrival center should last a maximum of three days. Then the onward journey to other quarters in Vienna or in Austria should take place.
“In the Ukraine a war is raging that is outrageous and terrible,” said Hacker. One of the aims of Russia’s brutal war of aggression is to use bombing of the infrastructure to achieve that in the Ukraine become cold and dark in winter. One of the reasons why the number of refugees could rise again.
It was “the most natural thing in the world” to help your neighbor, Hacker said. You don’t need a European Human Rights Convention or a Geneva Refugee Convention for that, he said.
Refugee coordinator Achrainer – who is also head of the Federal Agency for Care and Support Services (BBU) – spread hackers in view of the cooperation Rosen: “Thank you, that’s how it could work everywhere, Mr. Stadtrat.” The building had previously been used by the BBU. Achrainer reported that the refugees there had since been distributed to other federal states.
There is now at least movement in the willingness to be admitted. “Still not enough for me,” added Achrainer. Tents are now a thing of the past in these countries, he assured. These were only an emergency solution so that people did not have to sleep outdoors.
District leader Saya Ahmad (SPÖ) emphasized that Alsergund is a human rights district. “It’s not just lip service.”
With the arrival center, Vienna now has up to 2,000 emergency accommodation places for Ukrainians, according to the office of the Social City Council Ukrainians at four locations. A little more than 400 places are currently occupied.
A total of 35,000 people in Vienna are in basic care. Around 22,908 of them are affected from the Ukraine – around 65 percent. 11 percent of Ukrainians live in organized quarters, the remaining 89 percent in private apartments.
Source: Nachrichten
