Ukrainian truck drivers driving home with hospital beds. People who bring camping gear to Poland and take refugees back. The citizens’ initiatives in the region and in the Netherlands are heart-warming, says Tineke Ceelen, director of the Refugee Foundation. “But some help are more appropriate than others.”
At the Polish-Ukrainian border, the aid supplies are piled up meters high, says Ceelen. “There are mountains of clothing, toilet paper, shampoo, baby food and cans of tuna everywhere. There is no end to it.” Ceelen traveled last Saturday to the Polish city of Jaroslaw, near Ukraine. There, her team talks to people who have just crossed the border to coordinate help. The Refugee Foundation also has teams in Poland, Moldova and Romania to set up emergency aid together with local organizations.
Ceelen expects that the bulk of the items that are now being collected will be refused. Because how do you find the tube of toothpaste you need among all those bags of donated stuff? “They are lumped together: there is no one to find out what it is.”
Which help is effective?
“It is important to look at what people need. Don’t just send relief supplies. We have to channel that in such a way that refugees really benefit from it. That means offering things sorted. Otherwise, it is better to keep it in the Netherlands and donate money to one of the aid organizations that are active locally. Donating really helps.”
Aid organizations, including the Refugee Foundation, opened Giro555 on Monday for a national fundraising campaign for Ukraine. On the first day, 3.1 million euros was raised, which is used for shelter, medical care and drinking water.
How do you explain the many citizens’ initiatives for Ukrainians?
“There is a different sentiment than with previous refugee flows. For example, there was no such solidarity at the border between Poland and Belarus in November. Nota bene, the Polish officers who now carry children to the shelter, then searched for refugees to arrest them and send them back to Belarus.
“Maybe it’s because we feel fear about what’s happening right now. Who guarantees that Putin will not walk on? The victims come from a cultural background that is closer to us. But if this is about millions of refugees, then there will be cracks in this solidarity. You can predict that.”
Through Winny de Jong
A version of this article also appeared in NRC in the morning of March 2, 2022
#Stop #sending #unsorted #items