Valencia Comunidad: Ukrainian Refugees Under Pressure To Leave Accommodation As Summer Arrives

As the bloody war in Ukraine persists after four months, refugees who escaped and arrived in the province of Castellón are now facing problems such as having to under pressure to leave their accommodation…

The reason is that some of the owners of these properties have informed them that they must leave due to the arrival of summer, according to the organisation Kalyna, in charge of coordinating the arrival of refugees in Castellón.

In most cases, the complaints have concerned properties located in Benicàssim and Oropesa, two of the main tourist centres in the province, where prices have soared in recent months after two years of the pandemic, where now the refugees are under pressure to leave their accommodation. The summer season brings higher rental yields for the owners.

“The only ones who have not asked for help are two young girls in their twenties who have already been told to make a living because they have to leave,” say the association.

Kalyna has been receiving calls for days from people living in the province for the same reason. “Many people came. Those who are under the protection of associations such as the Red Cross or Caritas have greater security.

“But there are also those who took in refugees on their own. They were told that they would receive some kind of help from the institutions, but the truth is that several months have passed and this has not been the case”, says Kalna.

In the case of Caritas, their work is titanic, according to El Mundo. “In my case, it is the association that is helping me the most, not so much financially, but with the search for work and Spanish classes”, says a woman from Castellón who several months ago took in a woman and her child from devastated Bucha. “In terms of help from the authorities, the town council gave €200 worth of shopping vouchers a long time ago, but since then, we have received nothing more”.

Getting food to the people who need it

Kalyna continues to collect food that these families need and that, in many cases, it is difficult for them to source because the situation is still complex. “It seems that the war is over, but it is not, these families continue to need help on a daily basis, even though it seems that this is not the case”, they explain. For this reason, Kalyna has organised a food distribution in the warehouse set up in the Tetuan XIV facilities in the capital of La Plana. In this case there will be almost 80 families, made up of about 250 people.

“We must remember that we are talking mostly about women and children because the men cannot leave the country due to the conflict”, comments the Kalyna organisation.

Here in Valencia city, volunteers such as Graham Tyner is organising food parcels, along with Liverpool Bar in Ruzafa and good people in the community.

While the war continues to rage, there are still many who need help and compassion.