Ukraine: Caritas Romania ready for refugee emergency phase two. Fr Dunca to SIR, “we are getting ready to receive” those who flee the war

Once a transit country, Romania will now become a host country for refugees fleeing Ukraine with Caritas Romania getting ready to host those who choose to stay on the Romanian territory. Indeed, the heads of ten Caritas organizations from the dioceses and eparchies of the Catholic Church in Romania attended a meeting on 1 March organized by the Caritas Romania Confederation (CCR) to assess the state of the refugee crisis and find concrete ways to cooperate. There are four Caritas organizations in border areas with Ukraine: in Satu Mare, Baia Mare, Iasi, and Bucharest; the other organizations will offer logistical support, food and medical aid, etc. “From the very first day, we are helping refugees crossing over, and we are getting ready to host those Ukrainians who will remain with us: we have identified reception facilities and are setting up teams of volunteers and experts who can provide medical and psychological support”, CCR Director Fr Gheorghe Dunca told SIR news agency. This happens in Iasi, too, where Caritas Director Fr Iosif Iacob said: “No day is like the other. I have been at the border crossing in Siret: refugees are tired, hungry, frightened. After a difficult and dangerous journey, they wait at the border for hours. In our transit centres, they have a few hours or days of rest before continuing their journey abroad, where their relatives or friends are waiting for them”. In Bucharest, Caritas is hosting the foreign students who fled Ukraine and are waiting for their embassies to repatriate them on humanitarian flights.

Cristina Grigore