“We must welcome Ukrainians in the best possible way” declared this Tuesday, March 1, the Minister of the Interior at the end of a meeting with the prefects on the reception of displaced Ukrainians fleeing the war in their country. Gérald Darmanin added that the government had installed “special arrangements to be able to organize receptions“at airports and set up”reception facilities” in connection with elected officials.
In the morning, the government sent a letter to elected officials inviting them to “make known“to the prefects”possible solutions and initiatives” in their towns to prepare for the arrival of refugees. In the small town of Fourneaux, near Modane in Savoie, the reception of refugees is not new and the PS mayor François Chemin says he is ready to welcome as soon as it is necessary of displaced Ukrainians.
“We know what hospitality is, our two towns Fourneaux and Modane were bombed twice in 1943, the elders know what it is also to know the war” explains the mayor of Fourneaux. “We have not yet been asked by anyone but we are preparing for it, there is free social housing, the population can quickly organize to provide material support as was the case in 2016 when the Calais jungle was dismantled and refugees arrived in our town; we have a Red Cross center in Modane, Secours Catholique, a branch of Restos du Cœur, the town of Modane Fourneaux can make this effort” says François Chemin.
“People feel much more concerned by the fate of the Ukrainians, they are Europeans, it’s closer, the French felt perhaps less concerned in 2015-2016 by the Syrian situation” explains François Chemin. “People identify with and realize the disproportion of Russia with more than 200 million inhabitants against Ukraine, a country with 40 million inhabitants; people have a sense of duty”.