FAS president welcomes housing aid for Ukrainians, but ‘we need to ramp up in reception’

“I welcome the extension of housing benefits for Ukrainian families”reacts on Friday April 15 on franceinfo the president of the Federation of Solidarity Actors (FAS), Pascal Brice, “glad the government heard us”. “It is essential to pay the rents” while“With the language barrier, it will take some time for the refugees to be able to work.”

>> War in Ukraine: follow the news of the conflict in our direct

After the emergency accommodation phase, Ukrainian refugee families in France, mainly women and children, will be entitled to personalized housing assistance plus the family supplement as well as family maintenance benefits, announced this Friday the government in a press release.

In total, “20,000 people are taken care of in temporary accommodation facilities installed in all regions” on the “55,000 to 70,000 Ukrainians arrived in France”according to the president of the FAS. “The challenge for these families is health, school, learning French and housing. The children are often in situations of very strong psychological stress.”

Apart from emergency accommodation, “most Ukrainian families today are welcomed into families”according to Pascal Brice who asks “step up in hospitality”in anticipation of“atrocities that could continue”. “You have to be able to support the hosts, the hosted ones, and find other temporary structures.”

“It is important for these families but also for those who fight in Ukraine to continue to do so knowing that their loved ones are safe.”

Pascal Brice, President of the Federation of Solidarity Actors (FAS)

at franceinfo

According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, more than five million people have fled Ukraine since the Russian invasion began on February 24. This is the biggest refugee crisis in Europe since World War II.