Dutch royalty has confirmed that they will host up to 30 Ukrainian refugees within a castle built in 15th-century after Belgian royals promised to house two families.
Het Oude Loo will house eight families (about 20-30 people) on the estate Het Loo Palace, Apeldoorn.
The decision, made jointly by King Willem-Alexander, the Royal House, the city of Apeldoorn, the Noord-en Oost-Gelderland security region, the asylum seeker reception organisation COA, and Rijksvastgoedbedrijf, the national real estate management firm, was formally announced by the Dutch government on Monday afternoon.
The announcement came just days after three Ukrainian families fled their war-torn homeland to be hosted in the two Belgian houses of the Belgian royal family.
King Philippe & Queen Mathilde have opened up their two residences in Brussels, and Wallonia. These homes are part of the Royal Trust of Belgium.
The Dutch royal family (pictured are King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima) has announced it will house up to 30 Ukrainian refugees in a 15th Century castle after Belgian royals vowed to put up two families
Het Oude Loo will house eight families (about 20-30 people) on the estate Het Loo Palace, Apeldoorn.
The Netherlands Prime Minister Mark Rutte has previously declined to speculate about reports that the Dutch queen and king were planning to welcome refugees. He also said that he wouldn’t reveal the details of any private conversations.
According to Rutte who claimed that Queen Wilhelmina was the one who hosted refugees during World War II, royal families have previously housed them.
Around 1,700 families in the Netherlands have volunteered to take in refugees fleeing the war in Ukraine, NL Times reported.
King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima have recently visited refugees who made the journey to the Netherlands, spent time with people at the Harskamp barracks near Ede and hosted others at the Noordeinde Palace.
Queen Máxima visited a school in The Hague set up to help refugee children with education and a reception point at the RAI conference centre alongside the mayor of Amsterdam Femke Halsema
RefugeeHelp.org is a website created by the queen in English, Dutch Russian, Russian, and Ukrainian. It provides information about housing, education, and other related topics to refugees.
The Belgian royal family, pictured as King Philippe (pictured above), previously stated that it would host three Ukrainian families fleeing war-torn homes in its two houses in Belgium.
In Belgium, King Philippe and Queen Mathilde opened up their homes after King Phillipe met Ukrainian refugees, mostly women and children, at a registration centre at the Brussels Expo building.
According to a spokesperson for the Royal Palace, the King felt moved by this experience and decided that it would soon host Ukrainian families.
The Belgian royals have hosted in the past the most vulnerable members of their royal families.
The Royal Trust housed people who were displaced by floods and lost their homes last year.
After Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, more than 3.5million people fled the country. Nearly half the population fled Ukraine to Poland. More than 10,000 registered in Belgium for international protection.