Citizen housing for Ukrainian exiles is running out of steam. Nearly four months following the arrival of the first families fleeing the war, a certain weariness seems to be winning over the hosts. Lack of follow-up, absence of prospects, sometimes a real fed up… The reasons are multiple, but the result is the same. More and more families are closing the doors of their homes, accentuating the need to find another solution to house the exiles.
This is the case of Simon, a young thirty-year-old from Ixello. He is finishing the luggage of the couple he has hosted for several weeks. He says he is relieved to see them leave his apartment. The two months of cohabitation have however taken place without real worries, despite a particular story. In fact, when the Ukrainian couple whom he lodged under his roof arrived in Belgium, the young girl was pregnant. She gave birth a few days before arriving at Simon’s.
No luck in the agencies
With his companion, they had to provide medical support for the new mother. “We contacted the municipality and the CPAS several times, but we received no response and no support. We felt like we were abandoned“, laments the young man from Ixello, who has since played social workers. “All our free time was devoted to them.”
When it was time to end the reception, Simon was still on his own. “We had to look for an apartment for the couple using our contacts because real estate agencies are more reluctant to accept this type of profile. We would have liked them to go to social housing, which is more suitable“, he explains, specifying that he has acted as financial guarantor for the couple. If he is a little bitter, he does not blame the two exiles he has welcomed at all.”I found the speech of the public authorities quite hypocritical. Citizens are asked to open their doors, but in the end the entire burden falls on the volunteers“, he regrets.
A feeling of liberation
Sybille, a resident of the Liège region, says she is completely liberated to see the family of Ukrainians who have been staying with her for several weeks leave. “We initially gave as the deadline the date of May 30th. But on June 10 we still had no feedback from the town”she says today.
She then took her phone and activated her network. After several days of moving heaven and earth, the governor of the province finds a solution in a house waiting for a permit. A new temporary accommodation, while the family does not seem in a real hurry to return to Ukraine.
“At first, this family of five owned nothing. Normal since they were fleeing the war in an emergency. But for a few weeks they have been receiving income from the CPAS which amounts to 2300 euros per month, that’s not nothing! Especially since they have no rent to pay, no utilities, no car… There was this feeling that we always had to do more. At first, it seemed normal to us to act in solidarity. But, at one point, I felt like I was no longer at home“, describes the former host.
Fedasil on the knees
Clarification needed: not all stories are the same. In some cases, the reception is going wonderfully, the family participates in the tasks and expenses of the house, integration is on track. In yet other cases, the authorities provided support and have now taken over accommodation.
But, for some, the momentum of solidarity tires and the constraints weigh too heavily on family life. Then comes the time to find lasting housing, somewhere other than at the citizen’s. And, very often, it turns out to be complicated.
“At one point, the municipality even told me to drive them to the center of Heysel, in Brussels“, sighs another host. And, obviously, this advice is not isolated. Several other citizens who were looking for solutions from the CPAS received the same answer.
However, the agency in charge of reception has little leeway. Recently, the director of Fedasil sounded the alarm. The system is overloaded, he warned. He wanted proof of this by the fact that it is always more difficult to find new places. A few days following this warning, the situation even seems to be getting worse since it will now be necessary to find places to compensate for the renunciation of the hosts. “We have a sincere fear that Ukrainians will be the homeless of tomorrow“, dreads this host.