The country receiving the most so far is Poland, where over 280,000 people entered, according to a spokesperson for the U.N. refugee agency.
Hungary, near Serbian border, 2015. (Gémes Sándor/SzomSzed/Wikimedia Commons)
By Andrea Germanos
Common Dreams
Amid repeated calls for borders to be kept open to those fleeing Russia’s military attack, the United Nations refugee agency said Monday that more than 500,000 refugees have so far fled from Ukraine and crossed into neighboring countries.
The latest figure from the UNHCR came just four days after Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine.
The country receiving the most so far is Poland, where over 280,000 people entered, according to a spokesperson for the agency. Tens of thousands of people have also entered Hungary, Moldova, Romania, and Slovakia.
European officials say that as many as 7 million Ukrainians could be displaced by the conflict.
More than 500,000 refugees have now fled from Ukraine into neighbouring countries.
UNHCR is working with partners and local authorities to provide humanitarian aid and support those in need. pic.twitter.com/sgo0uKYgsO
— UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency (@Refugees) February 28, 2022
Among the mostly women and children who successfully crossed into the Polish border town of Zosin is 36-year-old Olga, who fled the Ukrainian capital of Kiev with her two- and eight-year-old children.
She told the U.N. agency that her hope is “that the bombs stop. That the killing stops. And that we can go home again.”
What Happened to Anti-Refugee Sentiment?
The open doors some nations have offered the current wave of refugees has thrown into sharp relief the anti-migrant and anti-refugee sentiment and policies the same governments only recently put forth toward other groups fleeing conflict from the Middle East and Africa.
Statement of the African Union on the reported ill treatment of Africans trying to leave #Ukraine https://t.co/wRULm2OfkL : #AfricansinUkraine pic.twitter.com/zZ8WpoCsP3
— African Union (@_AfricanUnion) February 28, 2022
Hungary’s right-wing Prime Minister Viktor Orban, for example, said at a press conference Saturday, “We’re letting everyone in.” Just months ago, in December, he said that “we aren’t going to let anyone in.”
And earlier this year, Poland began building a wall on its border with Belarus to block out migrants.
European officials this week are weighing a proposal to give Ukrainian refugees up to three years of temporary protected status.
This article is from Common Dreams
Good, let Europe & the NATO Countries get flooded & overwhelmed with millions of Ukrainian Refugees, while Joe Biden, the instigator of all this misery, sits back in America & laughs at the chaos his Nation has inflicted! Open the Floodgates Europe, because a Refugee is coming to a Town near you, but don’t worry they’ll only be white, blond & blue eyed types, you know, people like you!
Let’s balance this with an account, and a count, of the number of Ukrainian refugees who have fled the Donbass in the last 8 years, and have been taken in by Russia.
I wonder exactly how the population decides it is in danger from the carefully targeted action of Russia which claims to be avoiding civilian or even army casualties or damage and only hitting military installations and weapon stores (especially “donated” stuff from USA?NATO?EU friends). We hear all about the wicked Russkies but over the years there have obviously been close contacts and there are many people with close connections to both Russia and Ukraine. Russia expects the main population (not the neonazis and Azov batallions etc and confirmed Russophobes in the West of Ukraine) to accept their guarantee of freedom once the “bad guys” are removed. Let us see. We hear only news from the West, hysterically slavering with joy at the idea of ruining the whole of Russia in every way forever. Look at the sanctions. Bruno Le Maire in France (economics minister) sounds like a slave-seller from the past!