With the help of Sales-Lentz, Julien Doussot boarded a travel bus with the aim of bringing as many families as possible to Luxembourg. As he went along, the businessman realised the logistical challenge of such an operation.

“Everything changes very quickly. People don't stay at the border post. They are sent all over the place within countries like Poland or Romania. So during the bus ride, I try to guide the people we have to pick up to gather them in the same places. It's difficult, because some people are in transit in buses without really knowing their destination," Julien explained as he left Warsaw for the border between Poland and Ukraine. "In Warsaw, we were able to pick up the first families and drop off food in a reception centre before leaving for the border," he said as he set off.

For the past few days, Julien has been receiving more and more requests to pick up people. "I was able to arrange for four people to take a plane from Warsaw to Luxembourg and I have a person who picked them up at Findel. This frees up four places in the bus," says Julien, who has already taken 16 people on the bus provided by Sales-Lentz.

Even though they are getting tired, Julien and his wife Tanya find the strength to carry on by looking at the faces of the refugees, women and children between five months and six years old, who are beginning to smile again. "Despite the situation, we can see that the families are reassured. We had planned little things for the children, like sweets and small gifts," Julien points out.

“We are learning, we are adapting”

As a businessman, he is used to adapting to situations. “You learn, and I have to admit that there are details that I had absolutely not thought of, like pets. We took a cat and a dog belonging to two families, because it is obviously unthinkable to leave them at the side of the road. I was offered a trailer for the bus, which I refused, as I didn't think it was very useful. In the end, it would have been very useful. But you learn, you adapt", says Julien as he sets off for Romania. The return journey is scheduled for Sunday, with no less than 44 people on board the bus.

In Luxembourg, Julien has also set up a small team to manage “phase 2” of the operation, i.e. housing and the return to a more or less normal life for the Ukrainian families. “We have received a lot of proposals from people who can host the Ukrainian families. So far, we have managed to find accommodation for all the families. We make sure that the host families are compatible with the Ukrainian families. Typically, if a host family already has a 5-year-old child, they are offered to host a family with a child of more or less the same age. The aim is also for the children to find a fulfilling environment,” explains Virginie Daunois, who takes over from Julien in Luxembourg.

“We are also in the process of setting up a psychological centre, because we think that this will be useful for some families. We are collecting donations and we are setting up activities for the children. We would also like to be able to help financially the families who arrive so that they can feel autonomous or regain some form of dignity, even if they are hosted by a family”, Virginie assures.

"We took the lead, we reacted in an emergency. We can also see that the municipalities and ministries are also beginning to provide certain responses and, finally, what we have put in place is beginning to fit into the framework,” Virginie concludes, recalling that an association, Slava Ukrayini Luxembourg, has just been created.

Differdange offers accommodation

According to LUkraine, another association that aims to help Ukrainian families find refuge in Luxembourg, more than 600 households have indicated that they can accommodate Ukrainian families. According to LUkraine, nearly 250 Ukrainians have already arrived in Luxembourg.

Assistance is also being organised in the municipalities, as in Differdange. The municipal council has passed a resolution to provide 45 housing units--studios and flats--in the former Gulliver Tower hotel-restaurant to accommodate Ukrainian applicants for international protection. The municipality will also fund NGOs active in refugee assistance through its Déifferdeng eng Stad hëlleft initiative.

The government's recommendations on reception

Family minister Corinne Cahen (DP) and foreign affairs minister Jean Asselborn (LSAP) have issued recommendations on the procedures to be followed when receiving a Ukrainian family.

All displaced persons arriving in Luxembourg from Ukraine are asked to contact the Immigration Department of the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs by sending an e-mail to the following address: [email protected]. The aim is then to submit an application for temporary protection or, if necessary, another way of regularising their stay in the grand duchy. As a reminder, Ukrainian nationals do not need to take any particular steps to stay in Luxembourg and “they should therefore not worry about their administrative situation at this time”, the two ministries said.

The government has set up a first reception centre to accommodate people fleeing the war in Ukraine. This emergency reception centre, open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, is located at the SHUK (Structure d'hébergement d'urgence au Kirchberg), at 11, rue Carlo Hemmer in Luxembourg city. This centre offers shelter for the first few days and meals, as well as basic necessities.

All Luxembourg residents who have offered or are offering to host Ukrainian nationals in their homes are invited to contact the hotline run by Caritas and the Red Cross, with the support of the family ministry, on +352 621 796 780 or to send an e-mail to [email protected].

In view of the numerous private initiatives to organise transport to pick up Ukrainian nationals at Ukraine's borders, the Ministry requests all those planning such transport to send all information to the following address: [email protected].

The ministry has been informed of the increased number of unaccompanied and undocumented children at the borders of Ukraine who are on board transports organised by private initiatives. It is important for those organising these transports to ensure that there is no risk of human trafficking.

This story was first published in French on . It has been translated and edited for Delano.