The authorities, aware of the limitations of the building of the former Bordet hospital, started looking for a new, larger place to accommodate the Ukrainian refugees. The site of the former Bordet hospital had been set up to relieve the Petit-Château, which was already experiencing an influx of asylum seekers before the outbreak of the war in Ukraine. “We were able to relieve the Petit-Château a little so that there are fewer people in front, now Bordet must not have these many queues, which is why we are going to move”, explains Philippe Close (PS), the mayor for Brussels. The new place designated for the reception of Ukrainian refugees not only had to be large, but also meet different safety standards, in terms of fire, for example.
Finally, the city of Brussels proposed that this reception take place in one of the Heysel palaces. A palace, in principle on the 8th, will be made available for the registration of Ukrainian refugees. This solution will make it possible to absorb more people, to register more people. “Like what we did with the vaccination campaign, by having the biggest vaccination center in the country, we are going to have the big registration center so that all Ukrainians know exactly where to register.“, explains Philippe Close (PS). “And above all that they can wait in the shelter”adds the mayor.
This new reception center for Ukrainian refugees should be operational in the coming days.
