Swiss Red Cross launches digital advice for Ukrainian refugees
The Swiss Red Cross has launched an online platform to help Ukrainian refugees navigate through the initial steps of arriving in Switzerland.
The helpful.redcross.chExternal link website gives information about finding accommodation, security, financial support and medical care. The platform will add details of work, education and life in Switzerland in a second phase.
The digital platform has been launched in Ukrainian, Russian, German, French and Italian languages and is accompanied by a Telegram chat group, moderated by volunteers, to field questions that are not answered by the website.
Users have the option of enabling a geo-tracking function to give them more detailed information on the specific regulations of each canton and municipality.
More than 60,000 people fleeing the war in Ukraine currently live in Switzerland; more than half of them have been put up by citizens. The Swiss authorities estimate this number could double by the end of the year.
The Swiss Red Cross says its new platform is needed as online information is currently sometimes difficult to find and is not always available in the right language.
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