From project developers to hostels, forty Brussels companies have come together to make office and living spaces available to temporarily host refugees from Ukraine, Bruzz reported.
The Brussels Region is looking for 150,000 m2 of space to provide temporary shelter to 20,000 refugees.
Youth hostels to real estate companies
Pierre Verbeeren, the government coordinator for Ukrainian refugees, and Minister-President for the Brussels Region, Rudi Vervoort, launched an appeal to several real estate companies, as the ordinary housing market cannot provide for the large number of refugees arriving in Belgium.
“We will check the new locations for safety and ensure that there is access to proper sanitary facilities,” Verbeeren said. While he does not specify which companies and organisations are providing support, hotels and youth hostels are among the organisations making space available.
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The deadline for applications was on Wednesday, and since then, Verbeeren says they have received about forty offers from various sectors. “This means we are currently at a total of 40,000 m² of available space.”
Thousands of refugees
By 31 May, the aim is to accommodate 5,000 asylum seekers, while that number is set to be doubled to 10,000 by the end of June. “We will maintain that target. Of course, that is huge pressure on our shoulders, but we will gradually get there,” Verbeeren says.
Out of the 200,000 expected asylum seekers in Belgium, Brussels will account for 10% of them. The Region and the municipalities are working on a plan to equally distribute the refugees between them.
15% of the 20,000 Ukrainians have already found a place to reside thanks to private initiatives, and Verbeeren says the Region still needs to organise 10,000 places, while the municipalities must provide 7,000 reception places.
More than shelter
Not only does Brussels offer shelter to the Ukrainians, it also intends to give them the chance to participate in society. “Actiris, the job-seeking platform, has a service in Ukrainian,” Verbeeren says. “Their goal is to help the refugees find a job as quickly as possible.”
Children in primary and secondary education are able to attend schools with Ukrainian teachers, while tertiary students will have the opportunity to follow higher education classes in September.
