The war in Ukraine has caused at least three and a half million people to have left the country since Russia began its invasion on February 24, according to figures from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). More than half of those fleeing are headed for Poland, one of the many bordering countries they are trying to reach. According to the UN, hundreds of thousands have crossed into Moldova, Romania, Hungary and Slovakia. Specifically, Poland has welcomed more than two million refugees and has established eight collection centers along the border with Ukraine. In second place is Romania, which has also set up several reception centers in public centers since the beginning of the war and has welcomed more than half a million refugees. Hungary has done the same with just over 317,000. Moldova and Slovakia have welcomed 368,000 and 253,000 people, respectively. In addition, almost a quarter of a million of the women and children who have managed to escape from the war have done so by emigrating to Russia.
However, the internally displaced – who have fled their homes, but remain inside the country – exceed six and a half million. The head of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, has expressed his concern about the speed with which the civilian population is fleeing their country. “Among the responsibilities of those who lead the war, in any part of the world, is the suffering caused to civilians who are forced to flee,” Grandi said this Sunday when reporting that the number of refugees had reached ten millions. The High Commissioner also assured that there had not been such a rapid wave of refugees since the Second World War, when between 11 and 20 million people had to leave their homes due to the conflict.
