NRW has taken in around 225,000 refugees from the Ukraine. Among them are many women and children. A project in Dortmund helps in a targeted manner. But its future is uncertain.
Dortmund (dpa / lnw) – On the anniversary of the Russian attack on Ukraine, many people who fled to Germany are afraid for their relatives. “My parents stayed in Odessa. Rockets fell in the house next door,” reported Irina, who does not want to give her surname publicly, on Friday in Dortmund during a visit by SPD state leader Thomas Kutschaty in the “Open Living Room”, a project of the Women’s Center in Dortmund. Irina and her offspring receive comprehensive support in the project, as do 40 other mothers and numerous children and young people.
The traumatized refugees should feel at home there and get a feeling of normality. They receive help with dealing with the authorities, with the search for a day-care center or school, and the little ones are looked after in the project until they are placed. In the German and integration course offered, there were not nearly enough places, said project manager Nathalie Laufenburg.
The women were severely traumatized and received psychosocial help on request, as Laufenburg said. A young mother appealed that Germany should not forget the plight of the Ukrainian population even after the anniversary of the Russian invasion. Victoria, who fled Kiev with three children, is concerned about the many relatives she left behind – she doesn’t want to give her last name either. But her husband was allowed to cross the border, he didn’t have to fight – if he had three children, that was allowed.
After arriving in Germany, the everyday life of the mostly highly qualified women and their children is mostly characterized by cramped living conditions, also in collective accommodation, according to the women’s center. The “living room” is intended as a place of relaxation and relief. The children, too, would have to slowly regain the trust they had lost.
After ongoing funding from “Aktion Mensch” and donations, it is uncertain from the summer whether the aid project can continue. “We need the financial security that we can continue here. Otherwise we would have to stop the German course and childcare. And the now important contact and exchange center for women would also disappear. That would be fatal,” emphasized Serah Dubidad, board member. You have endless ideas, the need is enormous.
Finding an apartment is also problematic, reported supervisor Ljuboa Bruch. Initially, the willingness to accept was great, but now many apparently do not want to rent their apartments to refugees from the Ukraine, regretted Bruch. To date, NRW has taken in around 225,000 refugees from Ukraine. Kuschaty promised the women further support from the state of North Rhine-Westphalia.