1.3m Ukrainians flee; refugee crisis only just beginning, UN warns

As more than 1.3 million Ukrainian refugees have fled their country since the start of the Russian military campaign 10 days ago, the UN’s refugee agency (UNHCR) has warned that the humanitarian crisis engulfing Ukrainians is only beginning.

The Guardian said on Saturday that the UNHCR estimates over four million people will become refugees, while millions more will be internally displaced in Ukraine.

The UN agency warned that the mass exodus from Ukraine is the largest refugee crisis in a century. According to the report, most of the Ukrainian refugees are heading west into Poland, Moldova, Slovakia, Romania and Hungary.

Since the Russian operation began on February 24, almost 800,000 Ukrainian refugees have crossed into Poland. Polish aid organizations working at the border said their resources are stretched to breaking point.

Meanwhile, Hungary has seen the second-highest number of Ukrainian asylum seekers, with over 145,000 entering the country over the past 10 days.

To cope with the unfolding refugee crisis, the European Union agreed to trigger the temporary protection directive that would give Ukrainian refugees the right to live and work in the EU for up to three years without a visa.

An amendment changed the proposed text of the never-before-used directive to only extend the protection to Ukrainian nationals instead of all refugees fleeing the conflict.

The UNHCR has praised efforts across Europe to deal with Ukraine’s refugee crisis but called for maintaining the current show of solidarity throughout the coming months and, potentially, years. “As the situation continues to deteriorate and devastate, we know the numbers of people fleeing continue to rise exponentially. We trust European solidarity will continue.” 

“The reaction of EU states to the refugee crisis in Ukraine is extraordinary,” the Guardian cited Jeff Crisp at Oxford University’s Refugee Studies Center as saying. “Yet in one way it almost institutionalizes the difference between the reaction to the arrival of Ukrainians to the arrival of Iraqis or Syrians or other groups of asylum seekers at European borders.” 

“The UNHCR talks of this being the largest refugee crisis in a century but, there are over 6 million Syrians who have fled the war in their country,” Crisp stated. “What we are seeing unfolding will test the resolve and capacity of our global refugee infrastructure. We must be prepared for what is to come.”

UN admits refugees facing discrimination at Ukraine borders

The UN refugee chief admits that some non-European refugees have faced discrimination while attempting to flee to safety at Ukraine borders.

On Tuesday, the UN refugee chief admitted that some non-European refugees have faced discrimination while attempting to flee to safety at Ukraine's borders, in the wake of Moscow's campaign.

Filippo Grandi confirmed "there has been a different treatment" by Ukrainian security forces and border officials at a press conference on Tuesday, after a number of Black, South Asian, and Mediterranean refugees shared accounts of being blocked at borders while trying to make crossings.

On February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a “special military operation” aimed at “demilitarization” of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions in eastern Ukraine.

The regions broke away from Ukraine in 2014 after refusing to recognize a Western-backed Ukrainian government that had overthrown a democratically-elected pro-Moscow administration.

More than 14,000 people have been killed in the restive regions due to protracted conflict between the Ukrainian military and pro-Russian separatists.

Announcing the operation, Putin said the mission was aimed at “defending people who for eight years are suffering persecution and genocide by the Kiev regime.”

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