2,600 Ukrainian refugees registered in Netherlands; Amsterdam creating space for 900

About 2,600 people who fled the war in Ukraine have arrived in the Netherlands thus far, the Ministry of Justice and Security told newswire ANP. With more set to arrive soon, Amsterdam is preparing 900 placements at various locations around the city, according to a statement sent to NL Times on Thursday morning.

The Wow Hotel in Nieuw-West is being readied to take on 600 Ukrainian refugees. Two ships that will dock at Java Island in Oost will be prepared to receive even more people fleeing the Russian invasion Amsterdam said in a press statement.

The capital started taking in Ukrainian refugees last week. Currently, the city can shelter a maximum of 300 Ukrainians in the A&O Hostel in Zuidoost and the Savoy Hotel in Zuid.

With the new spaces, the Amsterdam-Amstelland Security Region has about 1,500 reception places available for people from Ukraine. On Friday, the central government instructed the 25 security regions to each arrange 2,000 reception places. The search for additional locations therefore continues.

Amsterdam is also turning the sports hall on Van Hogendorpstraat in West into an emergency shelter. "The sports hall will not be used immediately but will be kept in reserve in case a large number of Ukrainian refugees arrive at once who cannot be directly accommodated in hotels," the city said. "The municipality aims to keep the beds in this emergency shelter occupied for as short a time as possible and to ensure that people move on to locations with better facilities."

To help coordinate the distribution of Ukrainian refugees, Amsterdam is setting up a central location in the RAI from Thursday. All refugees from Ukraine will be referred to the RAI, from where they will be helped to find shelter. The municipality also started setting up psychological care, daytime activities, education, and job prospects.