Eastern Europe is preparing today for an increase in the number of refugees from bombed cities in Ukraine as the conflict continues after the escalation of the Russian invasion while the United Nations announced that more than 2.3 million people had fled the country.
Ukraine hopes to begin evacuating civilians via seven “humanitarian corridors” today, a day after it announced that a children’s hospital had been hit by a Russian airstrike in Mariupol, where thousands of people are trapped without access to water, medicine or food.
Both sides have blamed both sides for the failure of previous attempts to evacuate civilians. Russia has described the bombing as “fake news”. The district governor said 17 people were injured.
“We are only seeing the beginning, unfortunately, and I think there will be many millions more,” EU Home Affairs Commissioner Elva Johansson told Swedish radio.
Authorities and volunteers across Central and Eastern Europe have spent the past two weeks trying to provide food, shelter and medical assistance to the many thousands of refugees crossing the border.
“We are preparing for refugees from war zones,” said Witold Volczyk of the mayor’s office in Przemysl, a town west of the Polish border crossing at Medica, which has become a major transit point for refugees.
“We have psychologists on the spot. They have not been so busy so far. If it turns out that we need more professionals to help people with mental illness, we will look for them.”
The Polish border guard announced today that 1.43 million people have entered the country from Ukraine since Russia invaded its neighboring country on February 24. President Vladimir Putin has said his “special military operation” is aimed at “de-Naziizing” Ukraine, a position rejected by the West as baseless propaganda.
Nearly 350,000 people have crossed into Romania from Ukraine, while more than 150,000 have arrived in Slovakia and Hungary, according to local authorities.
Nadezhda, a 48-year-old woman from Kharkiv (Kharkiv) in northeastern Ukraine who did not want to be named, arrived in Poland on foot today with her two daughters.
“We will try to be a little more comfortable, see what is available and try to live,” she said, as she crossed the Medica pass, limping as she had broken a heel in one of her shoes and was carrying two small bags.
The hopes of the refugees to be able to return home one day are diminishing day by day. “Kharkiv is lost, half the city is destroyed, there is nothing to return to,” Nadezhda said.
Authorities and non-governmental organizations in Poland have expressed concern that vulnerable refugees may fall victim to criminal acts such as passport theft or forced begging, theft or prostitution and have set up a 24-hour helpline, advertising the in refugee reception centers.
Irena David-Olczyk, head of the Warsaw-based NGO La Strada, which fights against human trafficking, said the key was prevention.
“So far, there are no confirmed cases of human trafficking. But we expect that in about a month, bad things will happen and fraudulent employers will try to take advantage of the situation,” he told Reuters.
“I’m not afraid that people will suffer here, but rather that they will be transported to Western Europe. We are in crisis, so an orphanage in sunny Spain may sound nice, but it can also be a trap.”
Source: Capital
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