Anastasia's story is similar to that of many of her compatriots who have left their Ukrainian homeland because of the war. She fought her way through Ukraine for many days until she arrived in Bonn via Karlsruhe. Now the young woman, who speaks fluent German and has worked as an au pair in Germany, is struggling with the pitfalls of German bureaucracy. She and her mother have not yet received any social benefits after four weeks here. But Anastasia can relay one success: she finally has a residence permit and thus permission to work. She already has a job lined up. I can work next week in the "Eselchen" in Duisdorf," says the 20-year-old, visibly excited.

Anastasia and her mother arrived at an emergency shelter in Bonn more than four weeks ago. There began their odyssey with the German bureaucracy. Those helping her and her mother handed her many forms that even she, with her good knowledge of German, couldn't handle right away. It wasn't until a counselor went through page after page with her that she understood that she first had to go to the residents' registration office with her mother. "I had already gone there a couple of times to the immigration office, but had always been turned away because I didn't have an appointment. I had tried to make an appointment online, but somehow got nowhere," she says.

Glad to finally be able to present herself at the registration office, she prepared a list of questions that she wanted to work through. "The clerk was friendly, but she didn't answer my questions at all. She said I only had the appointment to register, she couldn't answer anything else." It wasn't until the couple, with whom Anastasia and her mother have been staying in the meantime, personally interceded for the young woman at the immigration office that there was any progress. "I wonder how others do it who don't speak German and have no support," Anastasia says.

Although she is happy to soon be able to earn some money of her own in the Duisdorf restaurant - "we'll be glad when we're finally no longer a burden on anyone" - she would like to study here in Germany. For now, another appointment is coming up. She has to apply to the social welfare office for benefits under the Asylum Seekers' Benefits Act. So far, her mother and she only have some money in hand, which they received from donations made by GA readers as part of the special Christmas light campaign for Ukrainian refugees.

Alexander and Natalia and their four children came to the Aloisius College at the beginning of March after fleeing from Odesa. Since then, they have also been struggling with the bureaucracy. Alexander, 38, who is a computer science teacher, was initially repeatedly turned down by the authorities. First, Ukrainian documents were a problem. Then he was turned away again because instead of booking one appointment for each family member, he had only booked one appointment for all of them. Finally, he got help from Narina Karitzky from Bonn, who from then on helped him with the visits to the authorities and with translating.

When the family left the Aloisiuskolleg, they had to provide for themselves. They had no money. At the Aloisius College they were able to borrow 210 euros, which they still have to pay back. They received 80 euros through donations from the church. "A man slipped us 20 euros on the street when he heard us speaking Ukrainian," Alexander says. It will probably be until the end of the month before they officially receive social benefits. "But we are used to getting by with very little. We are grateful to be here." The computer science teacher and his wife, who is a chemist, want to earn their own money as soon as possible, so they are learning German.

Narina Karitzky, who is a teacher and works part-time at the Russian Institute in Bonn, has a lot of contact with Ukrainian refugees in Bonn. "There are many families who are desperately waiting to register and apply for financial aid," she says. Karitzky knows the problem with the authorities all too well. Documents such as birth or marriage certificates written in Ukrainian create a real vicious circle.

Anyone who registers with the city needs a translation into German. Because this is an official document, it costs money, which many people do not have. The authorities do offer to cover the costs. However, there is a lack of personnel to process these applications quickly. "As a result, many only register with their passports as individuals and not as families or married couples," says Karitzky.

Then comes the Foreigners' Registration Office, which you have to visit for a residence permit. "There are hardly any appointments there at the moment, the phones are overloaded." Karitzky says that many of the refugees are "desperate to work." As a result of the fact that progress is so slow, frustration is spreading. So much so, he says, that the question arises as to whether they are even welcome in Bonn. "Because in other cities, everything happens much faster, and the refugees of course hear about this through their acquaintances."

Why, in the case of Ukrainian war refugees, not all bureaucratic procedures could be done in one place, Bonn's social affairs officer Carolin Krause explained in a GA interview a few days ago: "I would also be in favor of it, one office could be responsible for everything. Ideally, it could be located at the initial reception center for refugees in Buschdorf. That would speed up the procedures enormously. But these are complex procedures that are subject to different legal provisions." Another wish which she expressed in the interview, has meanwhile been fulfilled: Refugees from Ukraine are to be financially supported like recognized asylum seekers as of June 1 (see info box).

It currently takes ten days for an application for social benefits to be registered by the city, explains city spokeswoman Barbara Löcherbach. But then all documents must be available in the correct form. The money is then transferred within one day. According to city manager Wolfgang Fuchs, the reason for the waiting times, which run through the entire administration, is the lack of personnel. In addition, there are the preparations for the state elections.

The city is trying to counteract this with various measures and to support the particularly burdened administrative areas. Immediately after the start of the war in Ukraine, these were reinforced by junior staff. In addition, the city, in cooperation with the University of Bonn, is hiring student assistants, among other things. "Due to the current highly volatile and dynamic situation, the decommissioning of individual work areas is also conceivable as a last resort. The employees working there could then provide support in a wide variety of refugee assistance areas," explains Löcherbach. A cross-departmental draft resolution on dealing with the refugee situation will be submitted for the council meeting on May 5.

(Orig. text: Nicolas Ottersbach, Lisa Inhoffen / Translation: Carol Kloeppel)