More and more people fleeing the war in Ukraine reach Frankfurt.

As Social Affairs Director Elke Voitl (Die Grünen) announced at a press conference at the main station, between 700 and 1000 people are now accommodated in emergency accommodation.

There are three halls.

In addition, the Jewish community alone, which includes many native Ukrainians, has accommodated 250 people in the past three days, according to its head of social affairs, Leo Latasch.

Latasch is expecting at least 500 more refugees in the next few days, who have already contacted the community in advance.

Theresa White

Editor in the Rhein-Main-Zeitung.

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The number of Ukrainian war refugees in the city could be much higher, said Voitl - unlike in 2015, most of them have relatives or friends who help them organize their escape, guide the refugees to contact points and arrange private accommodation.

This is also due to the fact that there is a very active Ukrainian community in Frankfurt with more than 2,300 Ukrainian citizens.

Overall, the refugees are "more agile and digitized" than in 2015, said the head of the station mission, Carsten Baumann.

The composition is also different than it was then: there are almost no young men.

About half of the refugees are children, as Voitl said.

A third are women, the rest older men.

As Latasch emphasized, accommodation in a hall was particularly unsuitable for these groups of people.

The city has of course activated the violence protection concept in the halls, said Voitl, there are also female security personnel there.

Representatives of Caritas and Diakonie reported that psychosocial counseling was taking place.

"People are severely traumatized, drained and hungry when they arrive," said Voitl.

Because of the pandemic, the Red Cross is testing every arrival for Covid, and only those who have tested negative come into the halls.

There are also vaccinations available.

No more donations in kind desired

Voitl appealed to the apartment owners in the city: "Please rent your apartments!" This is the only way to defuse the tense situation.

They also need more halls and buildings that can quickly be converted into temporary accommodation, as well as space for wooden modules.

"We assume that we will have massive flows of refugees here in Frankfurt."

The city is the largest contact point in Hesse, also for war invalids and seriously ill people who can no longer be treated in their home country.

But you can't take everyone who comes.

"But we don't send people who have a connection to Frankfurt, who have friends or relatives here or who are seriously ill," said Voitl.

Among other things, she and Latasch are currently trying to organize more hotel rooms.

Since the Ukrainians actually all enter the country with a tourist visa, they can initially decide for themselves where they want to go;

it often takes a few days for them to appear in official help systems.

Many also wanted to go to relatives abroad, especially in Paris, reported Baumann from the station mission.

"People are under a lot of pressure and are looking for a perspective."

Anyone who wants to help can register under “Frankfurt helps”;

However, the experts from refugee aid ask you to refrain from donations in kind, as they are currently not needed and take up a lot of space and capacity of the employees.

Michael Frase, the head of the diaconal work, spoke of a "wave of helpfulness".

He has already received more than 400 offers for apartments or shared accommodation.