With more than 1.5 million fleeing the Russian invasion, the German interior minister wants to “save lives, this does not depend on the passport”. Berlin’s train station is living proof of the wave of solidarity with Ukraine’s refugees. Germany will welcome everyone fleeing the war in Ukraine, no matter what their nationality, Interior Minister Nancy Faeser told the weekly Bild am Sonntag: “We want to save lives, it does not depend on the passport.”
The social-democratic policy statement comes amid reports, including from the United Nations, that non-white individuals would have suffered racist and xenophobic treatment at the borders, while trying to escape the armed conflict initiated by Russia. But Berlin wants to change that narrative, starting with its central railway station.
There, thousands of refugees from the invasion of Ukraine are being received by volunteers and anonymous citizens, receiving help, accommodation, essential goods and some comfort. They arrive in the thousands each day, many carrying little more than a backpack, carrying children by the hand or in their laps.
Common to all is the accumulated tiredness of many hours of travel and uncertainty about the present and the future. Hundreds of volunteers are waiting for you, many of whom still remember the 2015 migration crisis.
The dedication of volunteers
Right on the facade, the station in central Berlin bears the colors of the Ukrainian flag, posters and symbols painted in blue and yellow indicate the way to the lower floor. A part of the building was transformed and adapted for the arrival of refugees from Poland.
This is the case of Natalia, who takes her daughter by the hand – her husband, brother and father stayed behind to fight for the country. The family is from near Radekhiv, between the cities of Lutsk and Lviv, she works in a school. She took a break in Warsaw, where she stayed with a family member, and this Sunday (06/03) she will go with her child to the south of Germany, where some friends will host them.
“I’m too tired to even speak. I try not to cry anymore, so as not to worry my daughter, but I feel very sad, I can’t explain it. I’m lucky, because I know some people, but all I think about is going back to my house”, says Natalia.
In a fluorescent yellow vest, Tatijana, of Russian origin, comes to offer help. It’s her first day as a volunteer at the train station in the German capital. She says that today so many offered to help, that many had to return home.
“I couldn’t just sit at home and do nothing. Couldn’t. I’m helping because I speak the language. When they arrive, I try to understand what they need and direct them to the best location”, he tells the Lusa news agency.
Population offers accommodation in Berlin
Inside the railway station building, the various aids available to those arriving are well defined. There is a point for charging cell phones, another with hot drinks and food, an area with clothes on hangers and shoes lined up on the floor, another with blankets and warm clothing.
With so many children among the refugees, a large diaper tower also stands out, in another support area. Even inside the station, there are volunteers helping with the language and hundreds of ordinary citizens standing in a hallway with handmade posters offering accommodation.
“Three to four beds in our house for a small family with two children and a wife, for several months,” reads one card. Many of those who offer housing do not speak Russian or Ukrainian, but believe in other forms of communication.
Among those offering accommodation is Aleksei, from Omsk, one of the largest cities in Siberia. Living alone in Berlin, he registered his apartment on a temporary housing platform for Ukrainian refugees, and offers a sofa bed for one or two travelers for several weeks.
“I don’t know how the war will end. It was clear that the plan [presidente russo Vladimir] Putin has failed and that he is heading in the wrong direction. They expected a ‘lightning victory’ or a ‘special operation’, as Russian newspapers put it. Instead, they received a firm response from the Ukrainian people”, reinforces the volunteer.
His mother is from Donetsk, in eastern Ukraine’s Donbass province, the scene of clashes between Kiev troops and pro-Russian separatist forces since 2014. “I am sure of one thing: this war will leave many people in need of help. Whoever flees Ukraine or who has to stay”, laments Aleksei.
Since, in the early hours of February 24, 2022, Russia launched its military offensive against three fronts in Ukraine, with ground forces and bombings in several cities, Kiev authorities have counted more than 2,000 civilians dead, including children.
“This is just the beginning, the number of refugees will increase”
The hours go by at Berlin’s central station, and another train from Poland is about to arrive. Through an improvised loudspeaker, one of the volunteers gives guidance to her colleagues. Everyone who arrives must be helped, without having to present a passport, regardless of nationality, sex, color or age.
At the end of another day, you can hear applause and the sigh of relief from those who have been there for hours trying to help. “It’s just the beginning, the number of refugees must continue to increase”, assures Tatijana, having concluded the first day of her mission as a volunteer.
The United Nations (UN) estimates the current total of Ukrainian refugees in Poland, Hungary, Moldova, Romania and other countries at more than 1.5 million. In Germany alone, they would already exceed 30,000, according to official calculations.
On March 3, the European Union approved the granting of Temporary Protection to refugees, who will be able to stay in the bloc’s countries for up to three years without having to formally apply for asylum. According to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) it is the fastest growing migratory crisis in Europe since the Second World War.
av (Lusa,KNA,AFP,ots)
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