Poland to give national identification numbers to Ukrainian refugees
Registration for Ukrainian refugees in Poland who want to obtain a PESEL national identification number and remain in the country will start on Wednesday March 16, a deputy interior minister announced on Saturday.
Paweł Szefernaker also appealed to Ukrainian refugees wishing to obtain a PESEL number to not all go to their local offices on the first day.
"We have had a meeting with town mayors, we invited all town mayors to a videoconference this morning," Szefernaker explained. "We established there a common model, a way of working. And within that framework there is important information: the registration of refugees from Ukraine who want to obtain a PESEL and who want to take up work, want to remain in Poland, will start this Wednesday, March 16."
He said the system was ready but needed to be tested and that local authorities needed to prepare for the implementation of a new law, which he said would take place on Monday and Tuesday.
He said Ukrainians would get full healthcare and social support from the day they crossed the border and asked them not to inundate local offices on the first few days of registration.
The deputy interior minister went on to say that from Wednesday, people who had taken Ukrainian refugees into their homes could apply for financing of the costs of their stay. He said a law passed by parliament provided for PLN 40 (EUR 8.36) per day and that applications for the money could be filed with local authorities. The payment will be backdated to the first day the refugees were taken in, Szefernaker said.
Szefernaker also said that on Saturday and Sunday, special trains would run to Germany and the Czech Republic for Ukrainian refugees wanting to head further west.
"In the (state railway company - PAP) PKP timetable today are nine special trains, also nine special trains tomorrow," he said. "At the same time, there are eight scheduled trains which means 17 trains a day to Germany, counting special and scheduled trains from the whole country, and 12 to the Czech Republic - two special ones and 10 scheduled."
He also said that with the diplomatic missions of various countries, Poland was organising humanitarian flights for third country foreigners who had escaped Ukraine, explaining they were for African and Asian citizens to return home.
Szefernaker added that preparations were being made for further waves of refugees from Ukraine, including emergency accommodation in sports halls and exhibition centres.
