Displacement of people is one of the tragedies of war. Several hundred thousand Ukrainian refugees fleeing the invasion of their country by Vladimir Putin’s Russia have thus flocked in recent days to bordering countries, say the authorities of these host countries, while 102 civilians have been killed, including 7 children, and 304 injured since the start of the conflict, according to the UN.
According to a UN estimate, the European Union must prepare for a humanitarian crisis of “historic proportions” in Ukraine, which could result in “more than 7 million” internally displaced people if the Russian offensive continues. Talks are also taking place this Monday, February 28 between the two countries to try to find an agreement, on the fifth day of the invasion. Before the start of negotiations, Kiev called for an “immediate” ceasefire in Moscow and the withdrawal of Russian troops.
Nearly 370,000 refugees
Some 368,000 refugees have fled the fighting in Ukraine for neighboring countries since the Russian invasion launched on Thursday February 24, and their number “continues to increase”, the United Nations said on Sunday.
This number “is based on data made available by national authorities,” said the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in a tweet.
Poland
Nearly 200,000 people from Ukraine have entered Poland since the start of the Russian invasion of this former Soviet republic, according to Polish border guards. On Saturday alone, Polish border guards said they had identified 77,300 people who had arrived in Poland from Ukraine. And Sunday morning, until 11 a.m., they counted more than 44,000 additional people.
Poland, which was already home to around 1.5 million Ukrainians before the Russian invasion and which has expressed its unwavering support for the invaded country, has so far seen a large proportion of those fleeing Ukraine enter its territory. . Throughout the country, people are organizing on social networks, collecting money, medicines, offering accommodation, meals, work or free transport for refugees.
Romania
According to the Romanian government spokesperson, a total of 47,000 Ukrainians have entered the country since Thursday. Some 22,000 of them have already left, while 25,000 have remained in Romania.
The busiest border post is Siret, in the north of the country, followed by Sighetul Marmatiei, also in the north. Two camps have been set up, one in Sighetul, empty for the moment, and the other in Siret, whose forty occupants must be transferred to reception centers.
Hungary
According to Hungarian police, more than 71,000 refugees have arrived in the country since Thursday. The country has five border posts with Ukraine and several border towns, such as Zahony, have converted public buildings into relief centers, where Hungarian civilians come to offer food or assistance.
Hot bowls of goulash, offers of accommodation or simply a word of comfort, the latter rushed to the border with Ukraine this weekend to support the refugees. Even the sovereignist Prime Minister Viktor Orban, known for his anti-migrant policy, made the trip and relaxed the country’s strict asylum rules.
This momentum recalls the mobilization of Hungarians when migrants from the Middle East and Africa arrived in 2015. Some had been stranded for weeks in a Budapest train station, subsisting solely on the aid of humanitarian organizations. Viktor Orban, who presents himself as the number 1 bulwark in Europe against “Muslim invasion”, had then erected barbed wire fences on the borders with Serbia and Croatia.
This time, he opened wide the doors of his country, displaying his “unity” with Brussels, with whom he often clashes on this subject of immigration. The government has thus decided to grant temporary protection to new arrivals, far from the fate reserved for other migrants who must submit their applications in “transit zones”.
Moldova
More than 41,000 people from Ukraine have arrived on Moldovan territory, according to the UNHCR.
Slovakia
More than 17,600 Ukrainians have crossed the Slovakian border since Thursday, according to the UNHCR. Around 6,514 people arrived in the night from Saturday to Sunday alone, according to the Interior Ministry.