War refugees: Hanover will rent another exhibition hall | NDR.de – News – Lower Saxony
Status: 03/10/2022 9:33 p.m
Several hundred war refugees from the Ukraine arrived by special train at the newly created Hanover/Laatzen trade fair hub on Thursday. Now another hall is to be rented.
The city of Hanover announced on Thursday that it would welcome the rental of Hall 26 at the Laatzen exhibition center. In addition, other options would be considered to accommodate people – for example in hotel rooms. The city announced that municipal properties or modular construction solutions would also be examined. The first special train with around 650 war refugees from Ukraine arrived at Hanover Messe/Laatzen station on Thursday afternoon, mainly women and children. Another train was announced for the evening. Until further notice, according to the rail operator Railroad Development Corporation, the special train will run daily on the route from Frankfurt/Oder to Laatzen on behalf of the federal government. The Messebahnhof in Laatzen is Germany’s first hub for refugees from the Ukraine.
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Translator & answer many questions
When they arrived in Laatzen on Thursday afternoon, the people were greeted with an announcement in Ukrainian and welcomed by volunteers. A reporter from the NDR in Lower Saxony described that in the arrivals hall of the train station, crowds of people formed, especially around the translators. Those arriving would have many questions – above all about how things will continue. The refugees can first be cared for and registered on the exhibition grounds, which are directly adjacent to the train station. The state admissions authority has set up a branch office in Hall 13 for this purpose. There are also cots for people who want to rest and eat something. A doctor and paramedics are also on site. The civil protection is in the process of mobilizing volunteers who die there to support work.
The first exhibition hall is already full
From Laatzen, the people are to be distributed to municipalities in Lower Saxony and throughout Germany. As the Ministry of the Interior announced on Thursday, around 4,500 places are available in the arrival centers in Lower Saxony. 1,735 are currently occupied. According to the Federal Ministry of the Interior, there should initially be no centrally controlled distribution of people to the federal states. If you arrive in Laatzen and don’t continue straight away, you can stay on the exhibition grounds for the time being. However, Hall 27, in which a tent city for almost 1,200 people has been set up, is already full. die first 400 people from Ukraine had arrived there on Tuesday evening.
Several hundred refugees from Ukraine are expected every day
The turnstile at the Hannover Messe/Laatzen train station was set up in consultation with the federal government. The main thing is to relieve the cities and regions in eastern Germany that no longer have the capacity, said Lower Saxony’s Interior Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) on Wednesday during a visit to the exhibition center. There have been since Tuesday evening Refugees accommodated in a hall. “It is our imperative humanitarian duty to offer people from Ukraine protection quickly and easily,” said the minister. Pistorius assumes that Laatzen will not remain the only hub in Germany. The Hanover region is preparing for the fact that several hundred people will reach the exhibition station every day. Region President Steffen Krach (SPD) pointed out that the station had already served as a hub during the 2015/16 refugee crisis.
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No impact on the Hannover Messe
According to a spokesman for Deutsche Messe AG, the Hanover trade fair planned for the end of May and the Interschutz trade fair scheduled for June will definitely take place. Hall 13 and Hall 27 would be required for this. Refugees from Ukraine are already being accommodated in one, and the second is being prepared for this purpose. However, alternative options on the site are already being examined if capacities for refugees are still needed at the time, the spokesman told the NDR in Lower Saxony.
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