This Thursday, Prime Minister Jean Castex, accompanied by Joël Giraud, Minister of Territorial Cohesion and Relations with Local Authorities, Emmanuelle Wargon, Minister Delegate for the Ecological Transition in charge of housing, and Marlène Schiappa, Minister Delegate to the Minister of the Interior in charge of citizenship, was in Nice to meet with those mobilized to welcome Ukrainian refugees.
After visiting the prefecture and the dedicated administrative office for Ukrainian refugees at the CADAM, the minister went to the bowling alley where the first emergency accommodation center of 250 places was set up. This center will have the role of centralizing procedures and care before distributing refugees across the entire national territory.
Jean Castex announced that a center similar to this one will be set up in each region, in order to demonstrate the nation’s solidarity.
Since February 25, 30,000 Ukrainians have been recorded on the national territory, with 10,000 of them now in transit to Spain, Portugal, or even Great Britain.
The Alpes-Maritimes department is one of the main entry points for this population with 13,000 Ukrainians having arrived in the region.
The Prime Minister praised the merits of local institutions that have quickly adapted to this large influx. To date, 3,500 Ukrainian refugees have been settled in the city of Nice, and 3,000 residence permits have been issued by the Nice institutions.
While 100,000 reception places have been unlocked across France, particularly thanks to numerous individuals who volunteered to host refugees, Jean Castex announced that this number is likely to increase. He has thus decided to gather all the prefects tomorrow morning to prepare for an increase in accommodation capacity.
Under the coordination of Marlène Schiappa, a professional integration program for Ukrainian refugees will be launched. For children, the Prime Minister announced the mobilization of interpreters to facilitate their acquisition of the French language, similar to the 260 Ukrainian children already enrolled in the Alpes-Maritimes.
Regarding the budget, the Prime Minister announced the State’s participation in the expenses of local authorities, municipalities, departmental councils, and specialized or generalist associations mobilized for the cause “so that there are no obstacles to welcoming these refugees”.
Jean Castex concluded his press conference by announcing that France must be ready both for the return of these refugees to their country once peace is restored and for the integration of Ukrainians who wish to remain in France so that they can “benefit from France’s hospitality”. “This is the reality and image we must offer them”.
