The number of Ukrainian refugees arriving in France due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine “is increasing rapidly”, Prime Minister Jean Castex said on Tuesday during a visit to a Paris reception center where he spoke with many people welcomed. The number of refugees “officially counted by the PAF (border police) since February 25 is around 5,000 people, knowing that a certain number of them are actually in transit”, indicated the Prime Minister. Some want to go to Great Britain, others to win “southern European countries”.
Solutions to be found in the face of limited reception possibilities
“What is clear is that this number is increasing rapidly”, underlined Jean Castex, after his visit to the reception center at Porte de la Chapelle, where he was welcomed by the PS mayor. of Paris and presidential candidate Anne Hidalgo. Noting that the reception possibilities risk being saturated very quickly, Anne Hidalgo suggested that an “empty” school, opposite the center, could “perhaps be used to welcome women and children”.
According to Jean Castex, “more than 500” Ukrainian refugees were welcomed in Paris on Monday, compared to around 300 per day during the weekend and only “a few dozen” at the start of last week. The flows are however difficult to understand, arrivals being made by bus from Berlin in particular, train or plane. The various associations have thus informed the Prime Minister of their logistical problems, in particular concerning the night reception of these refugees.
The mobilization of the French welcomed by Jean Castex
The Prime Minister also underlined the mobilization of the French, with 10,798 accommodation places which have already been offered: 5,978 by individuals, 3,683 by communities and 1,137 by “major accommodation operators”. Individuals who want to commit to this welcome can do so on the “I am committed to Ukraine” platform, active since Tuesday morning, recalled Mr. Castex, who was accompanied by the Minister Delegate for Citizenship Marlène Schappa. The number of refugees who have fled Ukraine since the invasion by the Russian army on February 24 exceeded two million on Tuesday, according to the website of the High Commissioner for Refugees which counts them.
During his hour and a half of visit to this center, Mr. Castex exchanged with several refugees, symbolically handing over temporary renewable six-month residence permits to two young women, Anastasia and Galina. “I am very moved to be welcomed here”, also slipped an old lady in tears, while a few steps away, children bundled up in parkas and hats, drawn features, waited alongside their mothers. The consul general of Ukraine in France Serhii Esaulov for his part insisted on the will of his country to “be part of the EU, to become a member country”. “The Ukrainians deserved with everything they do, they paid for this choice,” he pleaded.