A year ago, the Belgians mobilized to welcome Ukrainian refugees in emergency. A welcome that was to be short-lived. But today some families still live with these Ukrainians and find no solution to relocate them. Exhaustion is felt morally and physically. It is also difficult for municipalities to provide emergency solutions.
“I want to recover a life, it is morally heavy”. Since April 1, 2022, Aurore has been hosting a couple of Ukrainian refugees. If she confides that it is a very beautiful meeting, she also admits to needing to find her intimacy. A few months ago, she left her home.
“I think that basically, my house was not conducive to shared accommodation. It was a temporary reception and the temporary has become almost definitive. It is not possible. I have a bathroom, a toilet. In the morning, getting ready is complicated. The bedrooms are separated by a curtain. In terms of intimacy, we have known better”she breathes.
The 60- and 70-year-old couple speak neither French nor English. For the formalities, it is therefore Aurore who must manage everything. The young nurse is totally exhausted physically and morally. She blames the authorities. “I think we feel abandoned by the authorities who had made such beautiful propaganda for us to welcome. But there was never any return behind. No help to help us relocate these people”she testifies.
His case is far from isolated. There are approximately 11,000 Ukrainian refugees in Wallonia. In Courcelles, out of 13 host families at the start, there are still 6 today who are hosting refugees. The municipality had to deal with urgent requests from completely exhausted host families. Having no solution, it therefore appealed to other municipalities. “We might feel the same problem everywhere. More places, families who are running out of steam and who no longer wish to welcome. We had to turn to other solutions and in particular, collective accommodation”, explains Marie Caers, local coordinator for the management of Ukrainian refugees.
To relieve these families, the federal government has launched an appeal. So far, 27 shelters have been found. This represents a total of 1,225 places available.
