The number of people on the move represents “the fastest growing refugee crisis in Europe since World War II,” said the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) commissioner. Filippo Grandi said on Sunday, and this is reminiscent of the 2015 migration crisis triggered by the war in Syria, which resulted in an estimated 1 million asylum seekers. More than 2.5 million Ukrainians completely fled the front lines after the Russian invasion on February 24, according to the latest United Nations refugee organization estimates. Grandi told French radio station France Inter that the sheer number of people fleeing is a “terrifying” figure. And while many refugees going to other countries have family ties or connections, he said, “what worries me, what we fear is a second wave of people who have far fewer resources and connections and will be much more vulnerable.” Most of those who leave Ukraine are women and children. Ukrainian men between the ages of 18 and 60 have been banned from leaving the country after the national government imposed martial law.
Look where many Ukrainians have gone to escape the Russian invasion.
Ukraine’s neighbors
More than 1.6 million Ukrainians crossed into its territory as of Friday, according to the UNHCR, and Poland received the largest number of refugees.
Poland, bordering northwestern Ukraine, has become the first stop for those who may seek asylum elsewhere. Countries immediately to the west and south of Ukraine also received large numbers of refugees. More than 245,000 Ukrainians arrived in Hungary after the invasion, while more than 195,000 fled to Slovakia, according to UNHCR figures released on Friday.
According to the UNHCR, Moldova has taken in about 278,000 Ukrainians since the start of the war, and more than 173,000 of them have since moved to neighboring Romania.
The huge number of people fleeing is forcing local residents in neighboring countries to provide assistance where possible. To alleviate some of the stress and emotion of leaving Ukraine, some Polish communities are helping strangers get basic necessities, including strollers and diapers for small children. Constanța Dohotaru, a Moldovan activist active in civic relief efforts, told CNN about fears that those caught up in the mass exodus from Ukraine could be targeted by human traffickers.
“At the border, some women are really afraid to get into cars, so our volunteers are now wearing vests” to identify themselves, she said, and efforts are being made to officially identify drivers to show they have passed police checks. governments and offer safe transportation services.
Seeking asylum across Europe
Some 123,000 refugees have arrived in Germany as of Saturday, according to the German Interior Ministry. However, due to the lack of border controls between Poland and Germany, where most Ukrainian refugees come from, the actual number of refugees arriving could be significantly higher, an interior affairs official told CNN.
Berlin has become a major hub for refugees from Ukraine, Mayor Franziska Giffey said Wednesday night. More than 13,000 refugees had arrived in Berlin by train or bus in the previous three days, Giffey said. adding that the others probably arrived by car.
Refugees fleeing Ukraine have also arrived in France, French Citizenship Minister Marlene Schiappa said on Thursday.
The French Interior Ministry told CNN that of the 7,251 people “mostly women and children” who entered the country after the invasion, 6,967 are Ukrainian citizens.
“We see the situation getting worse as the conflict develops and today we have 25,000 places of refuge for these people,” Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said on Thursday, adding that France had received 3,000 arrivals in the previous two days.
In the United Kingdom, UK Home Secretary Priti Patel told lawmakers in the House of Commons on Thursday that from next week, Ukrainians with passports will no longer need to go to a visa application center before traveling to the UK. As of Wednesday, the UK has issued 760 visas.
The British system has drawn criticism after some refugees reached the French port city of Calais only to be told to travel to meetings in Paris or Brussels as part of administrative procedures.
Across Europe, countries including Austria, Croatia, Estonia, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Portugal and Sweden have reported the arrival of thousands of Ukrainians.
US and Canada pledge to help
Across the Atlantic, Canada and the United States have offered their support, with Canada announcing last week that it will expedite the processing of Ukrainian applications for temporary residence, permanent residence, and family reunification.
“Canada is ready to accept Ukrainians fleeing Vladimir Putin’s war, and there is no limit to the number of applications we are ready to accept,” Canadian Immigration Minister Sean Fraser said in a statement.
Canada is home to the world’s largest Ukrainian diaspora after Russia, with over a million Canadians claiming Ukrainian ancestry.
US Vice President Kamala Harris vowed to support a solution to the problem of the massive flow of migrants arriving from Ukraine, and said that the US is ready to accept more migrants.
“The US is absolutely ready to do everything we can and must do,” Harris said during a visit to the Polish capital Warsaw on Thursday.
But the border policy, which left thousands of migrants and refugees from other countries in limbo, also prevented a Ukrainian family from fleeing the war. The Ukrainian woman and her three children crossed the U.S. border on Thursday after being turned away at the U.S.-Mexico border a day earlier, the family’s lawyer said.
For almost two years, the US southern border has been largely closed to asylum seekers due to a public health order imposed by the Trump administration at the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
Alisha Ebrahimji of CNN, AnnClaire Stapleton, AnnaMaya Rappard, Paula Newton, Priscilla Alvarez, Lindsey Isaac, Nadine Schmidt, Tara John, Joseph Ataman, Camille Knight, Niamh Kennedy, Benjamin Brown and Liz Belanger contributed to this report.