The threshold of 2 million Ukrainian refugees has been crossed today: men, women and children have been fleeing the war for 13 days. In Belgium, more than 1,500 people lined up outside the offices of the Immigration Office yesterday and there are even more today. The office is overwhelmed.
The line in front of the doors of the Foreigners’ Office seems endless. Whole families of Ukrainians arrived here that night, sometimes around 4 am.
“Yesterday morning, we arrived here. The queue was huge. Impossible to be received. It was not organized”explains a father. “I’m very tired of waiting, it’s been several hours”said an elderly lady.
“There is a lack of information, a lack of toilets. We had to find solutions for toilets”denounces Éric, from the Solidarity for Ukraine platform.
For the luckiest, following many hours of waiting, access to the reception teams takes shape. The offices, arranged in an emergency, are stormed.
“There are children who haven’t slept all night, parents who have waited in line for hours and hours”notes Abdel, an employee of the Foreign Office.
“We really want to work here, stay in peace”explains Vassily, the Ukrainian refugee he receives.
Without another room, a family sings patriotic songs. Children draw to make time flow faster.
Measures taken urgently
“Everyone was taken aback and I think that here, we took urgent measures. We opened a building in an emergency, we called in emergency staff”explains Abdel, from the Foreigners Office.
Yesterday, 750 files were processed out of 1,500 people who were waiting outside. They are a little more today still, with a hope: “What do I want? I want to stay quiet and that’s it”lance Ludmila. “I want my children to learn your language, quickly”says Anna, another refugee.
A large majority of these Ukrainians have points of contact in Belgium, whether family or friends. Here, we ensure it: housing is guaranteed for everyone.
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“The situation is more structured on Tuesday”
Dominique Ernould, spokesperson for the Foreigners Office estimated that there were around a thousand people this followingnoon in front of the site at the former Bordet hospital. “The situation is more structured on Tuesday morning than it was the day before”he commented. “On Monday, there was no queue and we had to wait for police reinforcements before we might open the doors. Today, we have queues reserved for the most vulnerable people.”
In total, 699 Ukrainian refugees were registered from Friday to Sunday, during the first three days of opening of the center, and around 740 on Monday alone, noted Ms. Ernould. Registrars work at a brisk pace. Sufficient interpreters are present.
“For the moment, we are continuing to work on this site in Bordet, but we can imagine that other structures will be put in place in the short term given the influx of requests”advances the spokesperson for the Foreigners Office.
However, the latter recalls that the decision whether or not to create other sites in the Brussels Region or elsewhere rests with the cabinet of the Secretary of State for Asylum and Migration Sammy Mahdi.
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