The assistance center for refugees from Ukraine opened today, 2 March 2022, at the Brno exhibition center, providing basic assistance and all necessary documents to stay in our country, as well as medical care and food. Photo credit: Freepik
Brno, March 2 (BD) – The center was established through cooperation between the South Moravian Region, the City of Brno, the Brno Trade Fair Company and the Integrated Rescue System. “The main feature of the center is that you can find everything you need there. Now that we have an operational assistance center, we can also start using our accommodation capacity from today. We don’t want these people to have to travel further, but to be able to stay in peace. We are organizing this in cooperation with the fire department, which is transporting them to their accommodation,” said South Moravian Governor Jan Grolich at the opening of the center.
The refugees who arrive here are first registered with the foreign police. The necessary tasks and visa processing are carried out at the immigration department of the Ministry of the Interior, which requires, among other things, that they have health insurance. They are also given the opportunity to register with the Labor Office. In pavilion B, where the center is located, there are also staff of the Czech Red Cross who take care of the food and other basic requirements of the new arrivals. There are also volunteers and representatives of humanitarian organizations.
According to Grolich, the center will gradually add more services, including information points, and expand the center’s facilities to include beds and children’s corners. “I want to thank everyone who helped create the center. Yesterday it was just an empty exhibit hall, today it’s a fully functional support center. They have done a tremendous job here in an exceptionally short time,” said Governor Grolich.
The Mayor of Brno, Markéta Vaňková, said that the exhibition centre provided an ideal environment for the facility. “I think the local environment is the best we can offer for this first contact with the arriving Ukrainian refugees,” she said.
“I’m glad we were able to do this in cooperation with police personnel, volunteers and nonprofit organizations. Our next tasks will be to ensure the logistics and operation of the center so that we can accommodate dozens or hundreds of refugees from Ukraine over a period of a few weeks to a few months,” said Jiří Pelikán, director of the South Moravian Fire and Rescue Service.
Leoš Tržil, the director of the regional police, said that police officers will work at the center 24 hours a day. He also called on various organizations that are trying to organize larger-scale refugee transfers to Brno to notify the police by dialing 158 in advance. “The idea is that we can better prepare for these situations from an organizational point of view and respond appropriately,” he added.
