Following Russia's attack on Ukraine, the city administration has had to improvise at short notice in order to be able to accommodate the refugees. During the first 14 days, the Bonn-Innenstadt Joint Contact Point (Wache GABI) took care of around 460 refugees arriving at the train station, moving them to various accommodations. At the beginning of March, a first contact point was set up on Budapester Straße with a container and tents operated by the German Red Cross, supported by the city's security service. As there were not enough ad hoc accommodations available, the city administration rented rooms in hotels and set up five gymnasiums for accommodation for a few weeks. 

The people from Ukraine arrived unaccompanied and without allocation by the responsible district government of Arnsberg, due to the granted residence status and the associated freedom of movement within the federal territory. Already at the end of March, i.e. one month after the beginning of the war, more than 2,100 people from Ukraine were seeking refuge in Bonn. 

The intense search for accommodation brought quick results, thanks in part to the support of real estate owners. In Mallwitzstraße in Lannesdorf and Siebengebirgsstraße in Roleber, larger accommodations were opened in the spring, and an office building on Ernst-Robert-Curtius-Straße in Buschdorf has served as the first point of contact after the arrival of those seeking help since April 1, 2022. And while the number of refugees increased to 4,000 by the end of May, which meant that Bonn would not be taking in any more people for a while, the third large accommodation facility, Wielandstraße in Rüngsdorf, went into operation in the summer.

In the large facilities as well as in the initial reception center, the Office for Social Affairs and Housing relied on the proven cooperation with the German Red Cross. The aid organization, which had already provided active support in 2015/2016 for the initial reception and care of refugees, has operated the facilities on behalf of the city.

It was a stroke of luck that the Office for Social Affairs and Housing was able to place almost 700 people in private accommodations and that helpful citizens were able to directly take in people from Ukraine on a private basis.

In the course of 2022, the city administration also succeeded in acquiring a large number of additional apartments and smaller accommodations. As a result, the gymnasiums could be reopened within a few weeks and most of the rented hotel rooms could be vacated again. In order to be prepared for a possible larger number of refugees as well as for accommodation needs of homeless people during the winter months, the city prepared additional reception capacities at Maarstraße in Beuel shortly before Christmas 2022.

In total, the Municipal Building Management has examined a total of 290 rental offers and concluded 84 rental agreements (ranging from apartments to single/multi-family houses to office buildings). Currently, two container facilities are planned at the locations "Am Herz-Jesu-Kloster" in Pützchen/Bechlinghoven and "In der Raste" in Dottendorf.

The accommodation of refugees will remain an important task in 2023, as the large accommodations are only available for a limited period.

The 4,900 people have been officially registered at the Citizens Service Center (about 1,100 of them have left Bonn in the meantime). The Immigration Office has received around 4,800 applications for residence permits to date. Since about 900 applicants have left Bonn again, 3,900 people have received a residence permit or at least a de facto certificate for temporary protection as a result of the Russian war of aggression. The residence permit or the temporary certificate contains the passage that any gainful employment is permitted. It is therefore not known to the city administration how many people have actually taken up work in the meantime, as the specific employment does not need approval.

The Office for Integration and Diversity started a series of online events in order to inform the organizations involved in refugee and migration work - and thus also the numerous full-time and voluntary workers urgently needed as guides, pilots, and supporters. Some of them were able to take over concrete offers with their respective organization, providing help of all kind and dealing with matters from all areas of life. The approach of the city administration is also intensively communicated time and again so that everyone is as well informed as possible. 

The hotline for refugee assistance was reactivated, and the need for language mediators increased enormously within a short time. At the same time, the number of volunteers also increased significantly: Some people had already been involved in 2015, others were new and wanted to help as well. Ukrainian citizens of Bonn joined in, and the first new networks and associations began to take action. Municipal information mails were in great demand, offering lots of important information along with regular updates in the web portal responding to the great number of questions and needs. 

Numerous actors have taken good care of the refugees in the shared accommodations, getting things that are missing but urgently needed, offering food, helping with orientation, responding to worries and needs. And still others have been taking relief supplies to Ukraine.

The Family Office is available as a point of contact for all families in Bonn, so it goes without saying that it also sees itself as a point of contact for care issues for the refugee families from Ukraine. In doing so, it is important to keep the needs of the children in mind after experiences of war and flight and to avoid unnecessary breaks in relationships due to changing caregivers. 

The Family Office, the Specialized Service for Family and Educational Support, the Youth Development Office and the International Meeting Center have organized on-site projects in the refugee shelters, support for Ukrainian preschool children, language courses and leisure activities for Ukrainian children, low-threshold psychological care services along with other offers.

Since March 2022, around 460 additional new immigrant students have been assigned and admitted to Bonn schools at the elementary level, around 720 at the lower secondary level and around 160 at the upper secondary level. Allocation and distribution is carried out by the Cologne district government. The majority have been children and young people from Ukraine. 

While the children are integrated into the classes at elementary schools in Bonn, the new students are taught in separate classes at the lower secondary level. A total of 46 international preparatory classes has been set up for them at 22 secondary schools of all types in Bonn. For the upper secondary level, there are 17 so-called international support classes at the four vocational colleges in Bonn.  

The strong pressure on daycare places that was feared at the beginning, similar to that in the school sector, has not been experienced. To the knowledge of the Youth Office, between spring 2022 and the end of July 2022, 55 childcare contracts were concluded in daycare and daycare centers with Ukrainian children, and since the start of the new kindergarten year on August 1, 2022, a further 35 new contracts have been signed. 

Carolin Krause, Head of Department for Schools, Social Affairs and Youth, also expresses her gratitude for the great solidarity and the diverse support at all levels.  "So many people have welcomed and embraced the refugees, especially the children and young people, with open arms here in Bonn. They have done this in a commendable welcoming culture, providing great support to those seeking help."

Even though the city of Bonn currently exceeds its reception quota for refugees at 121.59 percent and is therefore not assigned any refugees for the time being, the situation remains very tense, not least because all the care infrastructure is under great strain. It will not be easy to provide all the people who want to stay in Bonn with all of the necessary infrastructure and, above all, to fully integrate them in the end.

• Regular internal steering meetings chaired by Carolin Krause, Head of the Department of Social Affairs. 
• Permanent participants:  Office for Social Affairs and Housing, Office for Children, Youth and Family, Education Office, Municipal Building Management, Immigration Office, Office for Integration and Diversity, Planning and Building Department, Health Office, Staff Council, Press Office.
• Persons from Ukraine registered in Bonn to date: 4,953, of whom 1,106 have moved on or back (as of February 16, 2023).
• 3,864 refugees in Bonn have received a residence permit or at least a temporary certificate of protection following the Russian war of aggression (as of February 10, 2023).
• Persons from Ukraine accommodated by the City: 1,704 including privately placed persons (as of February 13, 2023).
• The largest shared accommodations: Siebengebirgsstraße 200 (up to 400 places), Mallwitzstraße 2 (up to 120 places), Wielandstraße (up to 400 places).
• Initial reception center at Ernst-Robert-Curtius-Strasse 12.
• The city administration has commissioned the German Red Cross to operate the three large shared accommodations and the initial contact point.
• According to a preliminary calculation, expenses of just under 23 million euros have been incurred to date for accommodation, care and support of the refugees. After deducting federal and state subsidies, the City of Bonn bears costs of around 870,000 euros.