While the war in Ukraine began almost a month ago, more than 20,000 Ukrainians arrived in France. In the Loire, solidarity continues to be organized in many municipalities such as Firminy. The city hosts around thirty refugees since Monday, March 14.
“They are doing relatively well in the circumstances they have known, says Mayor Julien Luya, guest this Tuesday morning from France Bleu Saint-Étienne Loire. These are families who come to us from Ukraine, who lived peacefully like all of us, and who, overnight, found themselves with tanks and receiving bombs on their heads. And so, they fled their country unfortunately for them, to escape this reality.”
It was very surprising to see dozens of people arrive like that with a few bundles. Even the Pierre Valdo association, which accompanies us in this reception with really an expertise which is really appreciable in these moments, was surprised to see like that refugees who arrived devoid of everything. They left their lives there.
For the moment, the families are housed in furnished accommodation provided by the social landlord Habitat et Métropole. Firminy plans to welcome 90 Ukrainians in a few weeks. Refugees who will for the most part only stop in the town, the time to rest and complete the administrative formalities.
“We will allow them to update their administrative and health status, to have a legal existence in our country and then to have an apartment allocated to them in a slightly more permanent way in the metropolis of Saint-Étienne.” The children will then be able to go to school. “We have schoolchildren, college students, high school students, so you have to plan for that. It will be done on a larger scale than at the municipal level since there will still be a lot of people.