The Red Cross provides medical, logistical and psychological aid to Ukrainian refugees in Vaucluse
The Vaucluse department has welcomed around 250 Ukrainian refugees since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the prefecture said on Tuesday. A one-stop shop has also been set up in the premises of the Limbert prefecture in Avignon for facilitate their administrative procedures : refugees can, for example, apply for a residence permit and be directed to accommodation.
The refugees also benefit from the help of several associations upon their arrival in the department. The Red Cross, in particular, provides medical or logistical assistance. “We are always at the disposal of the prefecture to react quickly in order to set up emergency accommodation centers with all that this entails, that is to say folding tents, bedding, food aid priority”details Bernard Rouy, the president of the local unit of the Red Cross in Avignon, guest of France Bleu Vaucluse this Tuesday.
And Red Cross volunteers are also making sure psychological support for refugees. “It’s part of our role to bring human warmth, supporthe insists. They apply a lot of questions to find out what will become of them afterwards. Several have for example asked me if they are free to do what they want”.
The Red Cross is always looking for volunteers to Avignon “because it always takes a lot of people for these operations”. “We have to serve them breakfasts, serve them meals”he continues, as well as interpreters who speak Russian or Ukrainian.