An information office was opened in downtown Budapest to help refugees
The capital has been and will continue to do its part in helping those fleeing the war in Ukraine, the mayor said on Monday in Budapest.
Gergely Karácsony is located at 1-3 Bárczy István utca downtown. at the opening of the Budapest Helps information and community center at no.
He indicated that the capital will do its part in helping refugees from the beginning, by providing accommodation, meals, and providing information.
He continued by saying that the challenge must be faced that, according to international organizations’ estimates, there are many more Ukrainian refugees in Budapest than we “officially see” through their institutions.
This center provides guidance to the refugees staying here, he said, and also thanked the international partner organizations for their professional help.
“Budapest is a welcoming city, an island of solidarity in a terrible world, and we want to show that the capital is up to the task of helping those in difficult situations,” added Gergely Karácsony.
Muriel Tschopp, the regional operational manager of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), talks about how this center was created in cooperation between UNHCR and the Budapest municipality.
The war in Ukraine has been going on for two hundred days, and so far 13 million people have had to flee their homes. Seven million of them are internally displaced, and six million have left Ukraine, he said.
Many people need help, children have to go to school, adults have to find accommodation and work. This center provides help in this, he explained.
Muriel Tschopp added: the center also wants to fulfill a kind of bridge role between Ukrainians and Hungarians.
The specialist also said: he is confident that he will not need this center for long, and that everyone will be able to return home to Ukraine after the war.
Dániel Bagai, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) Hungary, talks about the humanitarian crisis not only in the numbers, but also in the composition of the refugees, as many women and children, the elderly and people with reduced mobility have left their country.
Most of the humanitarian needs are the responsibility of local governments, where Budapest plays a big role, as surveys show that it is the third most common destination for refugees in Europe – after Prague and Warsaw – he said.
He reported that, as part of the cooperation, they can provide assistance in a housing unit: so far, they have provided accommodation to refugees for 30,000 nights in their own and their partners’ accommodations, and with the cooperation of an accommodation brokerage company.
Another prominent area of their assistance is providing refugees with up-to-date information. Most often, they inquire about the conditions of education, legal employment and residence, said Dániel Bagaméri.
The Budapest Helps information and community center will be open from Monday to Saturday, between 8:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m., and until 9:00 p.m. on request.
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