Yanina Lipski can hardly find words in view of the war of aggression in Ukraine. “It’s all very dramatic,” says the chancellor of the Ukrainian Free University in Munich. “My team and I are working at full speed, we are urgently looking for accommodation,” she says. Many students at the university had studied online at Munich’s private university from Ukraine, and many of them are now fleeing to the West. Lipski wants to bring young people to Munich as quickly as possible.
But it is not that easy. Adult men are no longer allowed to leave the country, and women and children who could flee are dependent on cars. Air traffic has been suspended, as have train connections. “And the major roads are destroyed, progress is only possible at a slow pace.” But Munich wants to be prepared for the refugees from the Ukraine in good time and is feverishly looking for places to sleep.
According to SZ information, the city has stored several lightweight air halls from the refugee fall of 2015, which are now to be set up for emergencies. Another one is apparently being restored. “From the point of view of the social department, such a solution would only be acceptable in an absolute emergency and would also have to be checked and weighed up very carefully from an infectious point of view,” the social department said. 500 refugees can be accommodated in the short term, and another 1,000 are being prepared, the city said after a meeting of the crisis management team convened by Mayor Dieter Reiter on Friday afternoon. The government of Upper Bavaria is actually responsible for accommodating refugees in Munich.
25,000 to 30,000 refugees are expected in Bavaria alone
But so far she has been covered with information. Ukrainian nationals could “basically enter the EU without a visa and can therefore easily find accommodation in private accommodation,” said a spokesman. In the state accommodation there is “currently still free capacity, which can also be increased if necessary”. However, these may not be enough. Experts are circulating that an estimated three thousand people from Ukraine could arrive in Munich in the next few days and weeks.
The green-red city council coalition is therefore currently preparing a joint application in order to be able to take in refugees from Ukraine as quickly and unbureaucratically as possible. For this purpose, “all available accommodation capacities should be used,” according to a preliminary draft that still needs to be discussed. In addition, Munich residents should be called upon to make rooms in their private apartments available for refugees, at least for the coming weeks or months. This weekend, a decision is to be taken at EU level that refugees from Ukraine will be given a temporary residence permit and will not have to go to refugee accommodation.
In this context, the Bavarian Refugee Council is demanding a clear commitment from Bavaria’s Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann (CSU) to the unbureaucratic acceptance and accommodation of refugees from Ukraine. Refugee council spokesman Stephan Dünnwald expects around 25,000 to 30,000 refugees to arrive in Bavaria in the near future. In his opinion, many will stay with relatives and acquaintances. “But today alone we already had two offers from people who would take in private families from the Ukraine.”