“We only know who’s coming when the bus door opens,” says Marion Wolinski, head of the asylum department in the Ebersberg district office. The authority assumes that more refugees from the Ukraine will arrive in Ebersberg next week via allocations from the government of Upper Bavaria. The first buses could probably arrive next Tuesday, says District Administrator Robert Niedergesäß, but how often other people from Ukraine will come to the district in the following days is still an open question.
In any case, one is well positioned here as far as accommodation is concerned, says Brigitte Keller, head of the Ukraine crisis team in the district office. Around 90 percent of the 1,706 Ukrainians currently living in the district have found private accommodation. Many also came privately and did not come to the district via the distribution mechanism of the Königstein key. Overall, according to the district administrator, a relatively large number of war refugees have found a place to stay in Ebersberg compared to other districts.
It should stay with a central accommodation
Originally, buses were supposed to bring refugees into the district every fourth day, but the so-called cloverleaf system was not always used. For this reason and because of the already high number of war refugees, the district office does not assume that further accommodation will soon have to be requisitioned on a large scale. In contrast to 2015, when numerous gyms had to be used as refugee accommodation for months, the only hall prepared for this purpose, that in the Kirchseeon high school, is currently completely empty. Other halls should therefore not be converted for the time being. However, the district wants to continue to provide one large accommodation facility, which is to become an arrival center for those people who are driven by bus from Munich to the Ebersberg district.
Nobody lives here at the moment: the gymnasium at the Kirchseeon high school, which is equipped as refugee accommodation.
(Photo: Peter Hinz-Rosin)
However, the war refugees are not supposed to stay there for long. Wolinski speaks of a “hub”, from the hall it should go as quickly as possible to normal living conditions. Which these are in individual cases always depends on the size of the families that are looking for a place to stay. The larger, the more difficult private accommodation is, which is why the district is still looking for housing. Objects of various sizes would be rented, from apartments to single-family houses, if they met certain standards in terms of condition. There are currently around 160 places in state accommodation in the district.
Many volunteers help the refugees
The district office also sees itself in a good position when it comes to the administrative aspects of refugee care. The registration of those who have fled works very well, thanks to the help of the communities and the police, says Keller. About a third of the Ukrainians in the district are already officially registered and registered, according to the head of the crisis team, an above-average value compared to other districts.
The contact between the many Ukrainians who have arrived privately and the state authorities also works well. Thanks are also and above all to the “dense network of helper groups,” says Keller. The newcomers can quickly establish contact with the authorities through the volunteers and also through the district municipalities. In addition, Keller also refers to the homepage of the district office, where there is the most important information in German and Ukrainian on topics from registration formalities and job search to the search service of the Red Cross and a list of the most frequently asked questions.