The message is clear: national solidarity. After six days of conflict between Ukraine and Russia, solidarity for the inhabitants confronted with the war is organized. Hes are nearly 500,000 according to the latest United Nations figures.
>> Follow the evolution of the war in Ukraine in our live
An exodus that affects the French: quickly, operations to give what is missing to the Ukrainian refugees who are fleeing the bombardments, are set up. The Secours populaire is thus mobilizing throughout the country with solidarity collections and appeals for donations. But, according to Jean Stellitano, secretary general of the Alpes-Maritimes federation, warns: these needs are very specific.
“It’s anything but a garage sale, you have to exclude everything that is clothing. We clearly identified that there was no need for clothing, no need for a blanket. If we have to provide, we must provide a backpack, a survival blanket, but no cloth. It’s not necessary“, he details.
Like the collections already listed in many French cities, such as Marseille, Paris, Bordeaux or even in the Brittany region, the Secours Populaire highlights “his experience” and wants so”ensure that the convoys meet the needs of the refugees”can we read on the Facebook page of the Secours Populaire branch in the Alpes-Maritimes.
“Afterwards, for the children, we identified [des besoins] powdered milk, nappies, wipes. As there are water cuts, wipes are needed. You also need stoves. These are very targeted products, no pasta, no rice, no flour. These are products that must be cooked. We’re going to need preserves, ready meals, which we can eat cold, which we can eat reheated, but above all not to prepare and which require the minimum amount of water possible. I will give you an example with new batteries, FM radios… When you are in a country where the electricity is cut, the good old FM radio is the best link, it is what allows you to ‘to be the most useful’he says.
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Calls on social networks are also launched for medical equipment, medicines or hygiene products. Civil Protection and the Association of Mayors of France draw up, for example, a list with camp beds, sleeping bags, blood glucose meters, haemostatic dressings, antiseptic solutions or even respirators and defibrillators. I’Association of Mayors of France has also indicated collection locations throughout France.
In a long message posted on Facebook, the Ukrainian Embassy in France calls for people to commit as volunteers, able to travel to the Polish or Romanian borders with Ukraine. Even to join the armed forces: a call to which some French people have already responded.
Another way to show solidarity is to welcome refugees. A call is launched for goodwill. In Sisteron, in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, the Friends of the Children of Rivne association is preparing to receive around fifty Ukrainians, most of them children. In Autun in Saône-et-Loire, the first refugees have already arrived. Others are expected in the coming hours in the Ardennes, the Vosges or in Ain.
Finally, all the associations also call for financial donations, highlighting payment platforms directly on their official sites and specifying that it is possible to benefit from a tax reduction of 66% of the amount of your donation, within the limit of 20% of your taxable income.
For its part, on Monday February 28, the French State announced that it had sent 33 tonnes of humanitarian aid to Poland to help the Ukrainians. It is “tents, medicine, food“, “everything that helps people to be welcomed in the best conditions“, specified Gérald Darmanin. More than 30 tons of material will also leave for Moldova at the beginning of the week, also specified the Minister of the Interior. Two civil security planes “filled with drugs”according to the minister, are also due to arrive in Poland on Tuesday.