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Refugee assistance in Vienna is in full swing.
The facilities for fled Ukraine are already being heavily used in Vienna. Numerous volunteers are on duty to care for the arriving refugees.
The emergency sleeping facility at Vienna Central Station
At the arrival center in Leopoldstadt, a total of around 1,500 people were cared for over the weekend, a spokeswoman for the crisis management team told APA on Monday. The number of emergency quarters for those affected who need a place to sleep, at least for the short term, has already had to be increased.
Vienna sets up a contact point for Ukrainian refugees.
Last week, Vienna set up a contact point for refugees in a sports hall near the Happel Stadium. It is open around the clock and provides initial care and counseling. The arrivals are provided with food and drinks and hygiene articles – such as products for personal hygiene or nappies. Toys and stuffed animals are also available. Emergency sleeping places are also arranged there. According to the crisis management team, their capacity has increased to 1,000 people, given the great need.
Centre for refugees at the Austria Center Vienna
Those who decide to stay in Vienna are asked to come to the Austria Center (ACV). Further counseling and clarifications take place there. Long-term accommodation can also be arranged there. The office at the Austria Center is currently being set up, but the first counseling sessions have already been held. The center at the ACV is open Monday to Friday from 8.00 to 18.00.
Diakonie Wien arranges private accommodation for refugees.
People who want to take in refugees can also contact a central office. The city has commissioned Diakonie to act as an intermediary. “Since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, the City of Vienna has been working at full speed to be able to accommodate refugees well and safely. In addition to emergency accommodation where people can stay for a short time, there is a particular need for housing for refugees staying in Vienna for a longer period. Therefore, in a press release, private donations of housing are urgently needed to meet the demand,” said Susanne Winkler, head of the crisis team at the Vienna Social Fund.
Enormous willingness to help on the part of the Viennese
Many people have already become involved in the past few days. According to the FSW, 200 notifications offering flats or rooms have already been received: “The willingness of the Viennese to help is enormous, and we notice that very many people are also willing to donate or provide living space,” Winkler emphasized.
The report offers on the homepage of Vienna’s helpers.
The partner of the initiative is the Diakonie Refugee Service. “We arrange living space and take care of everything from the viewing to the handover of the living space between you and the refugees,” Birgit Koller from the Diakonie explained the procedure. Viennese people can get in touch with offers on Vienna’s helpers’ homepage and by mail (mailto:wohnraumspende-ukraine@diakonie.at).
“StartWien” with a new website for refugees
Integration and Education City Councillor Christoph Wiederkehr (NEOS) also met with representatives of Ukrainian organizations on Monday to discuss the concerns of refugees. Further measures will now be derived from this, he announced afterward. For example, there will be a website for those affected, managed by “StartWien “(a Department for Integration and Diversity).
The portal bundles the first substantial information for people who have fled. In Ukrainian and German, they can find information about the arrival center, medical care, accommodation, public transport, and the right of residence. In Ukrainian, the site can be reached at https://start.wien.gv.at/ukraine, and information in German can be found at https://start.wien.gv.at/ukraine/de.
This website will be expanded step by step in the coming weeks and will contain information on the world of work, education, health, and housing in the future. Information on the education system in Vienna and on necessary first steps will also be made available here in German and Ukrainian.
Wiederkehr: First Ukrainian children assigned to school classes
According to Wiederkehr, the Education Directorate has already begun assigning the first Ukrainian children to classes via the student flow management system. In addition, the website and the Education Directorate are looking for mother-tongue teachers of Ukrainian. “These are additional important support measures, and I will continue to engage in solution-oriented dialogue. We are in a challenging time, which we can only master together as a society,” Wiederkehr emphasized.
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