The 8,000 square meters of Heysel Palace 8 welcome Ukrainian refugees who have arrived in Brussels. This room replaces the former Bordet Institute where 6,000 refugees have already registered since it opened. Last Wednesday, the mayor of the city of Brussels, Philippe Close had informed of the new arrangements, the Bordet Institute having become too small.
At 9 a.m., our reporter estimated that 500 people were waiting outside Palace 8 in Heysel. Many women are present with children.
“Children are playing in one of the playgrounds located near the palace gates. These children are having fun far from their country”he describes.
Among these children is Julia’s daughter. The mother and daughter have been in line since 6 a.m. The mother confides that she is sad to have left Ukraine: “We were in Romania. Our trip lasted 32 hours. It was very difficult to leave Ukraine, because my parents, my siblings and my husband’s parents stayed there. I left Ukraine. good for my daughter. She will be better here. We call each other every day. At the moment the situation is calm in our city. But we don’t know what the situation will be in an hour or a day. We don’t know what to expect.”
In the past 24 hours, 100,000 people have left Ukraine. 2.7 million people have left the country since the start of the conflict.
