Volunteer teams of ARESEL, REF, REDI and Asociatia Ambasadorii Cerului continue to work tirelessly to help refugees from Ukraine

Since the first day of the Russian invasion in Ukraine, Roma Entrepreneurship Development Initiative, together with ARESEL Platform and Roma Education Fund mobilized and organized teams to provide support to Roma and non-Roma refugees from Ukraine. Refugees were met in border cities in Romania, in train stations from Iasi and Bucharest, but also in cities in other European countries (Bulgaria, Germany, Hungary).

In this article we will present the situation of the volunteer teams in Bucharest, where the ARESEL–REF–REDI group has been joined by the Association “Ambasadorii Cerului” from Bucharest.

An information stand with inscriptions in Romanian has been set up in the North Railway Station in Bucharest (Gara de Nord), where at least two volunteers are permanently present, and are replaced four times a day by colleagues. The help given to Roma and non-Roma refugees, as any person in need of assistance is welcomed, is divided, according to the needs identified, into three main categories:

COMMUNICATION

For those who are in transit. They are taken by us, we buy transport tickets to the place they want to go, and a link is provided to the external network of ARESEL-REF-REDI, which consists mainly of REF collaborators across Europe.

LOCAL ACCESS

For those who need to stay on Romanian territory for a few days to deal with paperwork or who simply need to catch their breath and decide where to go.

LINK WITH INTERNATIONAL NETWORK

For those who have already decided in which country and city they want to go to and they need assistance getting there.

Our volunteers in Bucharest North Railway Station can communicate in Romanian, English, Romanian, Russian.

Gabriela Badea, who is part of the team of volunteers in Bucharest, tells us about the daily routine at the help and information point in North Station:

“We pick up people depending on the situation. For those who are in transit we buy them tickets, take them to eat, give them clothes, shoes, and changes for the children. We even provide them with that three euro fee to ensure a place at their destination. There are also people who need to stay for one, two or three days to sort out paperwork. We accompany them to the embassy and accommodation centers. We also put them in direct contact with people in the REF network in other European countries.”

You can join our efforts to help Roma and non-Roma refugees by donating to one of the following campaigns:

Support Roma people of Ukraine by Eriac

DONATE

Directly to REDI via PayPal or bank transfer

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Of all our efforts would not be possible without the support of OSF-RIO