A Belgian couple who offered to provide their home to refugees fleeing the war in Ukraine says they were left with €36,000 ($39k) in damages caused by the Ukrainian family they took in.
Sven De Strijcker and Evy De Koninck offered their former home in the city of Ninove to house Ukrainian refugees to the local public social service centre (CPAS) after the pair had moved to another house in the municipality of Haaltert.
“One day we received a call from the CPAS in Ninove asking if we could pick up a Ukrainian woman with two children (her husband had been killed in the war),”The couple stated, “Paper!” 7sur7 reports.
“Then we got another call asking if we had a problem with the fact that the woman was pregnant. When we arrived, a pregnant woman with three children and her husband were waiting for us,”They added.
“We quickly noticed that this was no ordinary Ukrainian family. Two weeks later, the CPAS told us that they were Roma gipsies. For example, the members of this family did not know how to use a washing machine, a dryer, or an oven… All these devices were unknown to them. The mother washed the clothes in our bathtub,”They agreed.
French Hotel Commandeered to House Asylum Seekers Now Unusable Due to Damage https://t.co/GFerCz6NBn
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) August 8, 2020
According to them, the couple arrived just weeks later than the family. “Mould appeared all over the windows, the walls were covered with inscriptions, wood was torn from the bed frame, doors and cabinets were damaged. But that’s not all: all the chairs in the kitchen were broken, the moulding was torn off the stairs, there were holes in the floor, our children’s toys were broken, and even their piggy bank was opened.”
They also claim that the couple hosted another family at their home, which was claimed by the Ukrainian refugees. “Another woman, her husband and three children were staying with us. They were subletting. At one point, more than 11 people were in the house,”They agreed.
“They were also constantly asking us for money. Once it was supposedly for their youngest daughter’s birthday present, but it turned out to be for a car, even though we knew the man didn’t have a driver’s license. When they broke our son’s birth gift, that was the last straw,”They agreed.
The couple received 36,000 euro of damages after the refugee couple moved on in December. However, the CPAS declined to compensate them and instructed them to sue the refugees.
While the story may be remarkable, it isn’t unique to Europe over recent years. The 2020 destruction of a French hotel used for asylum seekers by Forbach was so severe that the hotel could not be used.
André Heintz, head of the Heintz Real Estate and Hotels Group that owned the hotel, claimed the damages were so extensive the costs were estimated at 1.7 million euros.
Woman Who Invited Migrants to Camp In Her Garden Now Demands They Leave https://t.co/rVJd59TxkE
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) July 5, 2019
Follow Chris Tomlinson at Twitter @TomlinsonCJ or email at ctomlinson(at)breitbart.com.
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