Questions and answers:
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If you want to help refugees in Denmark, you can volunteer as a volunteer in the DRC Danish Refugee Council. You can also contact local volunteer groups and hear if there is anything you can help with. Our assessment is that it may take some time before you will meet Ukrainians in the local volunteer groups, as many newly arrived Ukrainians have networks in Denmark that they can draw on immediately after arrival.
You can offer your help to Ukrainians through the association Danish Ukrainian Societies in close contact with Ukrainians who already live in Denmark by writing to [email protected]. For example, if you offer accommodation, write where in the country and how many you can house.
Finally, you can support the work of the Danish Refugee Council in Ukraine. DRC Danish Refugee Council has been in Ukraine since 2014, and we are currently intensifying our crisis management in Ukraine, just as we are working to ensure the protection of everyone fleeing the country. That is why we also have staff in Poland, Romania and Moldova who support the ongoing humanitarian efforts.
If you want to offer shelter to people who have fled the war in Ukraine, we encourage you to contact the municipality in which you live and offer your help. You can also make a post on the Facebook group 'Ukrainians in Denmark', where you offer your help.
Before you offer your home, it is important that you consider; How long can you offer shelter? How will you help the person / family further when they can no longer live with you? Can you pay for meals?
Should I, who offers shelter for newly arrived Ukrainians, have a child certificate?
If you choose to offer shelter to newly arrived Ukrainians, in some places in the country it will be done by agreement with the municipality in which you live, and in other places it will be done privately. If this is done in collaboration with the municipality, you will probably be asked to send your child certificate to the municipality, but if you do it privately, there will be no place to send the child certificate.
DRC Danish Refugee Council encourages everyone who offers shelter to newly arrived Ukrainians to familiarize themselves with child protection in the voluntary work to ensure safety and protection of the children who come to one's home.
There are no rules for private accommodation, and it is therefore up to you to assess whether you can pay for meals for your Ukrainian guests. Whether it is possible or not, it is really good to have a clear agreement from the start.
We are incredibly grateful for the enormous support we experience across Denmark, where people offer their help and support. As it looks right now, there is no need for donations in the form of clothes, furniture, etc. Instead, monetary donations are needed to provide emergency assistance to the people staying in neighboring countries and to those still in Ukraine.
Danish Refugee Council has been in Ukraine since 2014 and we are currently intensifying our crisis management in Ukraine, just as we are working to ensure protection for everyone fleeing the country. That is why we also have staff in Poland, Romania and Moldova who support the ongoing humanitarian efforts. You can help refugees from the war in Ukraine by supporting the Danish Refugee Council.
Several insurance companies have announced that their contents and liability insurance also cover newly arrived Ukrainians, their customers may choose to accommodate. Contact your insurance company if you want to know if this also applies to your insurance.
If you are in contact with Ukrainians in Denmark who have difficult questions, you can refer them to DRC Danish Refugee Council's Psychosocial telephone line. Here, children, young people and adults can call in and in their mother tongue be guided in normal reactions under difficult life circumstances, as well as what can be done to strengthen the feeling of safety and resilience in a new life full of upheavals.
A first reassuring conversation, where you are heard and understood, get answers to your questions or simply share your experience of grief and loss, can have a great impact on how a crisis situation is experienced and handled. On the psychosocial telephone line, Ukrainians in Denmark can call and have a short conversation with a Ukrainian professional with a focus on the reactions they themselves have, and especially on how you as an adult can support your children in the difficult and challenging situation, they are in right now.
At the interview, it is possible to arrange a time for a longer, follow-up interview. It is also possible to be examined for three therapeutic interviews as needed.
The psychosocial telephone line can be contacted by telephone: +45 3373 5314. Opening hours: kl. 9AM-10AM and 5PM-6PM (Monday to Friday).
If you want to offer to pick up Ukrainian refugees at the border, we encourage you to make a post on the Facebook group 'Ukrainians in Denmark', where you offer your help.
Before you leave to pick up refugees, it is important that you have an agreement on who you will pick up and that you have a plan for what will happen when you return to Denmark. This may, for example, be in the form of having found private accommodation.
Minister of Immigration and Integration Affairs Mattias Tesfaye has, in agreement with the Polish authorities, recommended that you do not drive to the border to pick up refugees from Ukraine without having a concrete agreement with someone to pick up. The Minister of Immigration and Integration Affairs states: “It is very important that emergency aid can arrive, and it is also very important that the people who have concrete agreements to pick up people who are at the border can arrive. Unfortunately, there are too many empty cars and minibuses driving around and filling up and creating more traffic than it is good (…). In addition, it is important to listen to NGOs in Poland, who say that it is primarily women and children who cross the border, and that it does not always increase security that cars drive around where the window is rolled down, and people are encouraged to jump in”. You can find the clip with the Minister of Immigration and Integration Affairs Mattias Tesfaye on DR Nyheder at time code 45:44.
The Danish Refugee Council protects and supports refugees arriving in Denmark from Ukraine. We do this through:
Asylum counseling and support for the protection of refugees from Ukraine.
Support national and local authorities in receiving and integrating refugees arriving from Ukraine.
Support for a dignified life in Denmark through the DRC's large and nationwide network of volunteers.
Coordination and technical assistance to support mobilization among the Danish population and the Ukrainian diaspora.
Since its establishment in Denmark in 1956, DRC Danish Refugee Council has played a leading role in ensuring the protection of refugees and asylum seekers' rights, supporting the integration and mobilization of volunteers who want to help refugees and asylum seekers in Denmark. This means that the DRC has a solid starting point for providing legal and integration advice to refugees and asylum seekers, providing technical assistance to Danish authorities, and mobilizing volunteers to locally support integration into Danish society.
The Ukrainian diaspora is large in Denmark and therefore DRC Danish Refugee Council also focuses on supporting their work to help the Ukrainians who come to Denmark. In collaboration with the Ukrainian diaspora and DRC Danish Refugee Council's voluntary network, we will create an overview of the needs of refugees coming from Ukraine and support the coordination of a joint effort from civil society.
If you need legal advice on the possibility of applying for asylum in Denmark and the rules for this, you can contact DRC Danish Refugee Council's Asylum Department for advice: Phone +45 3373 5000 (Mon-Fri 9AM-3PM) or e-mail [email protected]. On Tuesdays between 1PM – 3PM Ukrainian interpretation is available by telephone inquiries. Here, they respond all kinds of questions that have something to do with the situation in Ukraine.
Do you need legal or social professional advice on, for example, visas, family reunification, studies, work, payments, etc. you can contact DRC Dansk Flygtningehjælps Frivilligrådgivning.
If you are in contact with Ukrainians in Denmark who have difficult questions, you can refer them to DRC Danish Refugee Council's Psychosocial telephone line. Here, children, young people and adults can call in and in their mother tongue be guided in normal reactions under difficult life circumstances, as well as what can be done to strengthen the feeling of safety and resilience in a new life full of upheavals.
The psychosocial telephone line can be contacted by telephone: +45 3373 5314. Opening hours: kl. 9AM-10AM and 5PM-6PM (Monday to Friday).
The Danish authorities have set up website kriseinformation.dk where you can find answers to current questions, news and press releases related to the Danish efforts and get an overview of sanctions and Danish contributions to Ukraine.
If you have questions regarding issues such as work, education and childcare you can find more information on the website www.ukrainian-in-denmark.dk (information available in Danish, English and Ukrainian).