Refugees get assistance in Lónya and other Hungarian border towns

War refugees are getting assistance in Lónya, on Hungary’s border with Ukraine, from the local council, charities and people who want to help.

The local council of Lónya is organising convoys to bring the refugees to the village’s recreation centre and a Reformed Church building.

Mayor Ernő Nagy told MTI that the local council has placed 300-400 people fleeing Ukraine in temporary accommodations in the past days. The council has used its own resources to buy them food, and local cafeterias are serving them meals, he added.

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Charities of the Reformed and Baptist churches as well as of the Order of Malta are also helping in Lónya. The Baptist charity has set up cots in the local gymnasium and the Hungarian Red Cross has brought tents.

Nagy said people have offered food and clothing to the refugees, and many are assisting them with lodging.

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The Lónya border crossing is operating with extended hours and is now open until 11pm at night.

In the nearby border settlement of Barabás, the deputy mayor said the first arrivals from Ukraine were ethnic Hungarians from Transcarpathia, but now are mostly Ukrainians who do not speak Hungarian. Those people are being met by relatives or friends working in Poland, the Czech Republic or Slovakia, Ilona Sándor Biri said.

With the help of charity organisations, 50 cots have been set up in the local recreation centre, she added.

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Source: MTI