“It’s getting harder for host families. We need to look for new ones and more help Ukraine, coordination does not work properly. Yes, Ukrainians are now also on the streets. An average of 100 Ukrainian refugees still arrive in Belgium every day, mostly at the South Station. Many can turn to families, because there is a dense diaspora of Ukrainians in Belgium. But for a few dozen a day there is no shelter. SAMU Social is also helping, but places are limited,” she said in an interview published on November 16.
Pratte explained that in Belgium the authorities of the regions of Brussels, Flanders and Wallonia are responsible for accommodating refugees. And often the problem lies in the poor awareness of people about where there may be free places to stay. Many do not know about Flanders and Wallonia and go to Brussels.
A few weeks ago, Secretary of State for Asylum and Migration Nicole de Moore and Brussels Prime Minister Rudy Vervoort reached an agreement to create 1,200 additional places.
The day before, on November 17, The Telegraph reported that the council of the British county of Wiltshire intends to purchase houses for Ukrainian refugees. They are supposed to be rented out. Housing will be purchased with funds received from the state. At the same time, at the end of August it became known that about a quarter of the participants in the British program to sponsor the placement of Ukrainian refugees want to withdraw from it. The reason was increased prices and increased electricity bills.
On November 15, in Canada, landlords found a way to cash in on refugees arriving from Ukraine, as The Globe and Mail newspaper wrote. Canadian property owners began to demand that Ukrainians make an advance payment for housing several months in advance.
According to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, from February 24 to November 15, 2022, a total of more than 7.8 million refugees from Ukraine arrived in Europe. Over the past week, their number has grown by 19,050 people.