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They were brought to Switzerland by plane in March. Now there are no more refugees in the home in Mümliswil (SO).
Around 80 refugees, mostly mothers with their children, came to the Solothurner Thal from the Ukraine at the beginning of March. Entrepreneur Guido Fluri organized a flight for around 150 mothers and children from the war zone. A large part found a first place to stay in the former children’s home in the Solothurn Jura. They were accommodated in a former children’s home above the village of Mümliswil-Ramiswil on the hillside. The home is actually a memorial for contract children – then it was filled with refugee families, now it’s empty again.
The empty children’s home is a good sign: it was intended from the outset as a temporary solution until all families had found their own apartment or house. Almost three months later, it succeeded. Solutions for the refugees were found in the region, but also outside the canton.
Legend:
Half of the 80 women and children initially lived in the former children’s home in Mümliswil-Ramiswil.
SRF/Wilma Hahn
For example for the Hurin family. She escaped from Ukraine. They come from the city of Slavuta – in the middle of Ukraine, not a hotly contested area, but also not a safe place. The next air raid shelter was far away, not ideal with eight children, says father Andri Hurin. They fled to Poland and then happened to come to Mümliswil-Ramiswil.
The children have started school and we are doing very well.
Andri, father of eight children aged between one and 17, was allowed to leave Ukraine because of the size of his family. “We like it here, the children have started school, we are doing very well”. He lives with his family in a 4.5 room apartment in Mümliswil-Ramiswil.
Three months later – living in Switzerland
“It’s very quiet, beautiful nature, the people are friendly,” says Andri. They learned German, saw Switzerland a bit, and now organized the children’s everyday school life. Andri Schreiner was in the Ukraine, his wife Olga looked after the family. Both are 42 years old. Andri wants to find a job as a carpenter, but says he’s open.
24 refugees are currently living in Mümliswil-Ramiswil – they are looked after by the municipality. The Guido Fluri Foundation looked for apartments for the women and children, accompanied the families to them and registered the children in the school of the responsible municipality. According to the foundation, support is still important.
Security is important
“We knew that an escape is a trauma. Even fleeing to Poland was traumatic for the women and children, and fleeing to Switzerland was another trauma,” says Theo Halter, project manager for the Guido Fluri Foundation children’s home. That is why the foundation used staff who could provide the women and children with security. “Premature trauma therapy is of little use in the beginning,” says Halter.
Even fleeing to Poland was a trauma, fleeing to Switzerland again.
«The refugees wanted to learn German quickly. School was also important to them. The level of schooling in Ukraine is almost the same as in Switzerland,” says the foundation’s project manager from his everyday life.
Legend:
The Solothurn entrepreneur Guido Fluri in the former children’s home in early March 2022. His foundation finances a large part of the apartments.
SRF
At the beginning of March, Solothurn entrepreneur Guido Fluri picked up 150 refugees in Kraków. He chartered a plane on behalf of his foundation and brought 150 refugees from Poland to Switzerland.
Many of them were used in Mümliswil-Ramiswil. There, Fluri, who grew up as a child in a foster home, runs a memorial for contract children in the former children’s home – which has been converted into refugee accommodation.
80 children and mothers took part in the first action, further transports by car to Switzerland followed.
Millionaire and orphan
Guido Fluri is an entrepreneur and is one of the richest Swiss today. He was born in Olten in 1966, his childhood was shaped by placements in foreign and home settings. Today he lives in Cham in Zug. With his foundation, he is socially and politically involved in the areas of brain tumors, violence against children and living with schizophrenia.
Kurt Bloch, mayor of Mümliswil-Ramiswil, also had to react quickly in March. In addition to the places in the foundation’s children’s home, his community provided 40 places in a warehouse. In the first phase, the refugees were reluctant, but that has subsided, Bloch tells SRF. In Mümliswil-Ramiswil there are nine refugee children who go to school. In the morning they attend a special German class, in the afternoon they are integrated into the regular class.
Now the children’s home will remain empty until further notice – but it would be open if new placements were necessary, say those responsible.