UNHCR Statement on Ukraine

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has launched an updated regional plan to respond to Ukrainian refugees, seeking $ 1.85 billion to support 8.3 million refugees in neighboring countries, Hungary, the Republic of Moldova, Poland, Romania, and Slovakia, as well as other countries: the region includes Belarus, Bulgaria, and the Czech Republic.

The assistance is expected to focus on key areas such as protection, health and nutrition, education, and basic living needs. Non-cash assistance, which has already benefited tens of thousands of refugees in neighboring countries, is a key priority in providing assistance.

According to the statement, Ukraine's neighboring countries have mechanisms and capacities to respond. However, the scale of refugee arrivals and the extent of their needs require greater support for national social protection systems and services.

The human impact and suffering caused by the war are unimaginable. Families have been torn apart, and homes and infrastructure destroyed. In the long run, the damage caused by war will have a lasting effect on many who are forced to flee their homes, including women and children, who represent about 90 percent of those who are forced to flee.

Since the beginning of the war, countries in the region have kept their borders open and welcomed asylum seekers.

So far, the war has forced more than 12.7 million people to flee their homes in the past two months alone. Of these, more than 5 million have fled across the border as refugees and 7.7 million are internally displaced. It is also estimated that another 13 million people are stranded in the affected areas or are unable to leave due to security risks.

 

_{Source and Credit: UNHCR, UN}