Hagsätra
Ukrainians queue for food: "Want to live, not just survive"Fredrik Björkman
Updated 10.29 | Published 09.42
Low compensation forces Ukrainian refugees to queue for food at the Red Cross.
In Hagsätra, food bags with the essentials and soup are offered to satisfy hungry stomachs.
- It is impossible to live on the money we receive in daily allowance, says Daria, who fled the war in Ukraine.
Quick version
- Ukrainian refugees in Sweden are forced to seek help from the Red Cross as government compensation is not enough to cover the needs.
- Within the Red Cross premises in Hagsätra, food bags, toothbrushes and diapers are distributed every Friday, with 450 bags per Friday to help the Ukrainian refugee families.
- Ukrainian refugees testify to how difficult it is to get finances together and put food on the table.
Lunchtime on a Friday in the Stockholm suburb of Hagsätra.
The queue outside the Red Cross premises curls thirty meters from the entrance. Ukrainian refugees
The queue outside the Red Cross premises curls thirty meters from the entrance. Ukrainian refugees
wait for help.
The hoods are folded up to protect against the March rain.
Inside the room it is full of people.
Inside the room it is full of people.
Queues at the premises in Hagsätra where the Red Cross distributes food bags. Photo: Lotte Fernvall
Oleksandra Byelyavska distributes food bags to her compatriots. They cannot survive on the daily allowance paid out by the state and therefore need help from civil society.
The lunch box contains the essentials. Families get a little extra. Just this Friday, the Red Cross volunteers have invested extra in toothbrushes and toothpaste. Mothers with small children receive 15 diapers to last a week, a couple of cans of baby food and washcloths.
It makes a big difference for the Ukrainians. A person who has shared a household receives SEK 61 per day to live on, the children receive between SEK 37 and 50. It doesn't go far enough.
Julia and Elsoly prepare sandwiches and hand them out. Photo: Lotte Fernvall
Oleksandra Byelyavska fled the war in her homeland. Only when Russia annexed Crimea in 2014. Then she became an internal refugee and fled to the city of Mykolaiv in the southern parts of the country.
When Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022, she went to Sweden with her son, who was four years old at the time.
- I was so sad the first day. But I got a tip about the Red Cross when I was sitting on the subway and a man overheard me talking to my son, says Oleksandra Byelyavska.
When Oleksandra Byelyavska came to Sweden, she was given accommodation by the Swedish Migration Agency.
But there was no food in the accommodation and the card loaded with compensation that she received did not work for the first 20 days.
- I was told that the atmosphere here is good and that they serve good borscht.
Oleksandra Byelyavska (left) and Elisa. Photo: Lotte Fernvall
450 food bags every Friday
Oleksandra Byelyavska continues to distribute food bags. Around 450 boxes are distributed every Friday. The need is great while waiting for the government to change the rules so that the allowances can increase.
A couple of meters from the distribution of food bags, two large pots of soup are boiling. Vegetables, broth, spices and some pasta.
During the first hour, only mothers with children are allowed to enter the Red Cross premises. They are served soup and a sandwich with liver pie so that the children get enough nutrition.
Elisa comes from Severodonetsk, a city in eastern Ukraine occupied by Russia. She came to Sweden in April 2022 and has given birth to a daughter here.
- We have security, so we have a good time here. We are grateful that Sweden is helping us, says Elisa.
But life in Sweden is difficult. Elisa says that access to medicines is a problem. She exchanges medicines with other vulnerable people and can usually get hold of what she needs in this way.
Oleksandra Byelyavska continues to distribute food bags. Around 450 boxes are distributed every Friday. The need is great while waiting for the government to change the rules so that the allowances can increase.
A couple of meters from the distribution of food bags, two large pots of soup are boiling. Vegetables, broth, spices and some pasta.
During the first hour, only mothers with children are allowed to enter the Red Cross premises. They are served soup and a sandwich with liver pie so that the children get enough nutrition.
Elisa comes from Severodonetsk, a city in eastern Ukraine occupied by Russia. She came to Sweden in April 2022 and has given birth to a daughter here.
- We have security, so we have a good time here. We are grateful that Sweden is helping us, says Elisa.
But life in Sweden is difficult. Elisa says that access to medicines is a problem. She exchanges medicines with other vulnerable people and can usually get hold of what she needs in this way.
"We want to live, not just survive"
Gifts are also something that gets her household through the day.
- Many have been very kind to us, says Elisa.
- But we miss our home, of course.
A couple of hours after the Red Cross opened the doors, the queue has grown outside the premises. The thirty meter queue has grown to at least double that.
Daria comes to the Red Cross in Hagsätra for the company of her compatriots, but also to get food for her family.
She fled to Sweden together with her husband and their two children.
- It is impossible to live on the money we receive in daily allowance, she says.
- We want to live, not just survive.
Daria's husband got a job as a construction worker, but after three months of work he was not paid.
Now she struggles with trying to learn Swedish, maybe find a job when the children are a little older.
Gifts are also something that gets her household through the day.
- Many have been very kind to us, says Elisa.
- But we miss our home, of course.
A couple of hours after the Red Cross opened the doors, the queue has grown outside the premises. The thirty meter queue has grown to at least double that.
Daria comes to the Red Cross in Hagsätra for the company of her compatriots, but also to get food for her family.
She fled to Sweden together with her husband and their two children.
- It is impossible to live on the money we receive in daily allowance, she says.
- We want to live, not just survive.
Daria's husband got a job as a construction worker, but after three months of work he was not paid.
Now she struggles with trying to learn Swedish, maybe find a job when the children are a little older.
AgencyPhoto: Lotte Fernvall
FACTS
Single people who have accommodation where food is not included receive an allowance of SEK 71 per day. Anyone who has shared a household receives SEK 61.
The allowance for children aged 0–3 years is SEK 37. Children aged 4–10 receive SEK 43 per day and 11–17 receive SEK 50 per day.
The daily allowance for the Ukrainians
Single people who live in accommodation arranged by the Swedish Migration Agency receive SEK 24 per day in compensation from the state. Those who share a household receive 19 kroner. Children up to 17 years give 12 kroner per day.Single people who have accommodation where food is not included receive an allowance of SEK 71 per day. Anyone who has shared a household receives SEK 61.
The allowance for children aged 0–3 years is SEK 37. Children aged 4–10 receive SEK 43 per day and 11–17 receive SEK 50 per day.
Anna with granddaughter Elisa. Photo: Lotte Fernvall
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