Priceless paper: Refugees get IDs for new lives in Poland
Source: AP
By MONIKA SCISLOWSKA
WARSAW, Poland (AP) Hoping to restore some normalcy after fleeing the war in Ukraine, thousands of refugees waited in long lines Saturday in the Polish capital of Warsaw to get identification cards that will allow them to get on with their lives at least for now.
Refugees started queuing by Warsaws National Stadium overnight to get the coveted PESEL identity cards that will allow them to work, live, go to school and get medical care or social benefits for the next 18 months. Still, by mid-morning, many were told to come back another day, the demand was too high even though Polish authorities had simplified the process.
We are looking for a job now, said 30-year-old Kateryna Lohvyn, who was standing in the line with her mother, adding it took a bit of time to recover from the shock of the Russian invasion.
We dont yet know (what to do), she added. But we are thankful to the Poles. They fantastically welcome us.
Hundreds of refugees from Ukraine wait in line to apply for Polish ID numbers that will entitle them to work, free health care and education, at a special application point at the National Stadium in Warsaw, Poland, on Saturday, March 19, 2022. The application points are not able to handle all those interested and ask many of them to return. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)
Read more: https://apnews.com/article/ukraine-refugees-poland-ids-72472201b58b7df85c913d765fcb6f9b
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Totally Tunsie
(10,885 posts)Thank you to the Polish people and government.
(Donation made.)
CanonRay
(14,036 posts)possibly absorb this many people? We'd be hard pressed to do it.
Sogo
(4,960 posts)We have help wanted ads all over my small town in the Midwest. I can only imagine that is true in most regions of the US. We could absorb them fine.....We need workers....
CanonRay
(14,036 posts)Housing, schools, day care. We have a housing shortage in my community. Very few apartments available.
NullTuples
(6,017 posts)They tend to be part of investment rental portfolios, purchased when banks bid against other banks or foreclose on owners. There's a massive backlog to getting them into the rental market. But also banks don't want to add too many at one time lest they drive rents down. And, housing starts from the last two years that were started on paper but never built or completed are at a high. And finally, homes have become investment vehicles on a massive scale, not unlike how mortgages were bundled pre-2008.
In short, housing is a mess because of feudal capitalism.