“Welcome on board”, in Marseille, a ferry welcomes Ukrainian refugees

• A Corsica Linea ferry welcomes some 1,600 Ukrainian refugees at the quay and in Marseille.

• On board, accommodation and food are taken care of, but also a whole integration system for which State services, local authorities, associations and the private sector have pooled their efforts.

• From SIM cards to job offers, including vocational training and childcare, this is “an integration project”, underlined Christophe Mirmand, the regional prefect.

There were already around a hundred Quai de la Joliette, in Marseille, getting off the buses with their bags and suitcases this Tuesday shortly after 1 p.m.

Women with their children, in their vast majority, guided by the services of the State and fleeing the war which is raging in Ukraine, their country.

To accommodate them, the Paca region has rented, for an amount that has not filtered, from the shipping company Corsica Linea, a ferry with a capacity of 1,600 seats.

"It's not just a hosting project, it's also an integration project", introduced Pierre-Antoine Villanova, CEO of Corsica Linea.

To do this, local authorities, associations and the private sector have pooled their efforts.

Pôle emploi and the union for businesses in Bouches-du-Rhône (UPE13) have identified job offers for these “displaced people”, a term that seems to have replaced that of refugees.

Childcare and training will be offered, French language courses provided, SIM cards distributed, three meals a day provided.

"It's an integration project" and "a complete device",

500 volunteers to welcome Ukrainian refugees to their homes

On board the ferry parked at the quay and powered by four generators, the orientation and safety signs have been translated into Ukrainian.

A children's playroom has been set up, the old cinema, unused for almost 20 years, where posters of the films

,

,

Stone still hang out  today bleached by the sun, was reopened.

"From 6,000 to 10,000 Ukrainian families are expected in the region", underlined Renaud Muselier, the president of the Paca region which mobilized a little more than 4.5 million euros for the whole of its operation of reception of refugees.

Not everyone will find a place on board.

"Hotel accommodation has also been made available," added the regional prefect, who said that 500 people had volunteered to welcome displaced people to their homes.

A hope for the future

Also on the spot, Benoît Payan, the mayor of Marseille, said “his hope for the future” that such a surge of solidarity arouses.

“I remember being sent back to court for supporting SOS Méditerranée,” he added.

“And I tell myself that we are capable of mobilizing.

Someone fleeing the war, we don't ask for their papers, ”he said in his speech, visibly somewhat indignant about the differences in treatment between refugees.

This ferry,

, will remain alongside for two months with its 70-man crew before resuming commercial use for the summer season.

Everyone hopes that by then the war will have ended, but nothing is less certain.

World

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Marseilles

War in Ukraine: The tears of sadness and relief of the first Ukrainian refugees in Marseille

• Paca

• War in Ukraine

• Refugees

• Society

• Marseilles

• ferry

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