Natalia Spivak : L'importance cruciale d'un soutien rapide de la part des autorités et des ONG pour les personnes en quête de protection

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Natalia est journaliste - et réfugiée ukrainienne en Suisse

L'invasion de Poutine et sa guerre contre l'Ukraine sont particulières pour les autorités et les NPO en Suisse, et ce pour plusieurs raisons. Il y a d'abord des raisons juridiques : Les Ukrainiens ont pu et peuvent toujours entrer en Suisse sans visa, indépendamment de la guerre. Ils ne sont pas obligés de déposer une demande d'asile à leur arrivée, mais peuvent demander le statut de protection S, activé pour la première fois, dans un délai de 90 jours. D'autres réfugiés, en revanche, originaires de pays nécessitant un visa pour entrer en Suisse, doivent s'enregistrer dans le premier pays de l'espace Schengen dans lequel ils pénètrent, ce qui n'est jamais la Suisse, puisqu'elle est au centre de l'Europe. L'autre raison est géographique : En raison de la position de l'Ukraine à la frontière extérieure de l'UE, la Suisse est l'une des destinations de fuite les plus rapides à atteindre. Celles et ceux qui ont réussi à passer en Pologne, par exemple, se retrouvent en quelques heures en Allemagne et autant vite en Suisse. 

Il en résulte un nombre soudain et plus important de personnes en quête de protection en Suisse que lors des crises précédentes. Comment les autorités et les organisations en Suisse gèrent-elles cette situation ? La journaliste ukrainienne Natalia Spivak ne peut qu'apporter un excellent témoignage - et montre dans son rapport sur notre blog à quel point un soutien rapide est essentiel pour les personnes en quête de protection. On peut en tirer des enseignements pour le traitement futur des réfugiés. La journaliste met en outre le doigt sur ce qui est le plus important, au-delà du logement et de la nourriture : l'attention portée à la situation mentale, psychologique et psychothérapeutique des personnes en quête de protection. Il faudra s'intéresser à ce que la Suisse et les organisations à but non lucratif peuvent faire pour fournir précisément ce soutien.

«The unknown destroys»

The first wave of panic since the beginning of the war has passed, among those Ukrainians who managed to leave for the EU and Switzerland, but nevertheless, we are all now in anxiety and stress, because we do not know what will happen next. And the unknown destroys. We all worry about ourselves and our loved ones, for our future and present, and for those who still remain in Ukraine and those who are trying to start life from scratch in a new country.

Many of us have spent a month since the beginning of the war in endless weeping, sleepless nights. Exhausted from military shocks and their consequences, the nervous system cannot recover. Now many feel total exhaustion. This can manifest itself in the form of depression, which develops against a background of constant anxiety.

Conversations with relatives and friends in Ukraine lead to additional frustration and psychological trauma, as listening to information about how parts of dead bodies are scattered around the city, bombed and totally destroyed cities, how dozens of people sit for weeks in bomb shelters, where they sleep and give birth to children and go to the toilet and eat in the same room. The brain refuses to understand that this is really in the 21st century!

How to deal with it:

  • try to sleep in any case, even if you need to drink a sedative for this;
  • drink enough water - a dehydrated body cannot fight stress. Water is more necessary than food;
  • make information pauses from reading news in Ukraine;
  • exclude the mode of pity for everything material. Constant regret about the lost fuels anxiety even more and cuts out the brain;
  • make plans "what I will do after the war." This will help the brain work for your salvation, and not for quiet self-destruction;
  •  to be saved by humor is a reliable shield for the brain to lower cortisol a little;
  • embrace;
  • Tell loved ones: "I love you." Such words help to maintain strength;

The Swiss authorities are offering maximum efforts to support the Ukrainians, and we all appreciate it very much. 

The kindness, care and generosity of the Swiss people result in being deeply grateful. On my personal experience: I was settled by Swiss government in the Sternen Oerlikon Hotel Zurich. We have not seen such care and warmth from each member of the staff even in the best services in the world. It can be seen how each of staff members tries to help as much as they can. The management offered free laundry and breakfast in the room if unable to go down to the restaurant by yourself, and even bought new clothes.

It is simply impossible to find fault with Swiss hospitality and care. On behalf of the Ukrainian nation, we are sincerely thankful.

We are hoping on a wise decision about the possibility to leave and enter the Schengen territory after obtaining the status S. Since we have already lost everything in Ukraine, and the restriction of movement is perceived as an unfair restriction of freedom. As we didn't do anything wrong and lost everything we know, we do not want to also lose our liberty.

 

 

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Our author

Natalia Spivak – special correspondent. She covers different types of topics, from fashion to economics, energy and politics. Natalia started her career as a fashion journalist and as a celebrities interviewer. After that, she fundamentally changed topic to energy and politics. She has done numerous interviews with Ministers, Prime Ministers, Ambassadors, Presidents, politicians from different countries, top business leaders like Sir Richard Branson, Anthony Scaramucci, Dr. Edward Bosarge. Her articles were many times the most viewed and front page publications.

Natalia Spivak