Unknown persons tried to break into houses where Ukrainian women and children were staying.
At least two different groups of men tried to break into an apartment building in Örebro where Ukrainian families were living. Two people managed to get into the accommodation and then tried to break into a room where a Ukrainian woman was sleeping with her two children.
“They said that Sweden is a safe country, but I haven’t experienced anything like this,” Oksana said.
“It is dangerous here (…) The men then aggressively knocked on our room door and demanded to be let in (…) I was very scared (…) In Ukraine such things never happen”.
The newspaper Samnytt interviewed one of the Ukrainian women in the hostel. We also spoke to a volunteer counsellor in Örebro who accompanies refugee women. None of them wanted us to print their names.
The first incident happened around 3 am. Two Somali men started knocking on the front door of the hostel. Without opening the door, the Ukrainian woman tried to talk to the men outside.
“They looked like African Americans, if I may put it that way. They were black people,” she told Samnytt.
She explained to the men that only Ukrainian women and children lived in the home, but they claimed that a friend of theirs lived there. After asking for the friend’s name, she found out that this person did not live in the hostel.
However, the men did not give in. After a while, a third Somali showed up in front of the hostel. The women found the situation very unpleasant and went to their rooms to lock themselves in.
Several Somalis eventually managed to break into the hostel.
“They started knocking on the door of a woman staying with her two young children, aged two and four. They were terrified,” says the volunteer.
Around 5am, a group of Arabs came and tried to enter the residence.
“However, they did not manage to enter,” says the volunteer. “I talked to the women. They are afraid. In Germany, a Ukrainian refugee was gang-raped.
The hostel now deployed security staff to ensure surveillance. The Ukrainian refugees were also informed that they could contact the hostel staff or call the police on 112 if they did not feel safe.
According to the volunteers, many of the women were so shaken by the events that they regretted having fled to Sweden. Some would even have liked to stay in Ukraine despite the war.
“I am so scared that I would like to go home,” said one of the women. “If the bombs fall, at least I know I can go to the basement and hide.” Samnytt.se