Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has resulted in the worst humanitarian disaster Europe has seen in decades. With hundreds of thousands of people fleeing the escalating crisis, neighboring nations and international organizations are joining together to denounce Russia’s aggression and give assistance to the growing number of refugees.
According to the UN refugee agency, 10 million individuals, or over a quarter of the population, have been displaced; nearly four million of these have fled to neighboring countries such as Hungary, Moldova, and Poland. The UN is prepared for up to seven million internally displaced people and up to seven million refugees, the worst war-related mass displacement since the Balkan Wars of the 1990s. As of March 20, at least 902 people had been killed and 1,459 had been wounded, while the true count is likely to be far higher.
Many Russian assaults have targeted densely populated regions, forcing citizens to take shelter in underground stations and leaving hundreds of thousands without power, water, or basic necessities. Experts are especially concerned about Russia’s growing dependence on artillery, cluster bombs, rockets, and other weapons capable of wreaking havoc on civilian populations, particularly in the main cities of Chernihiv, Kharkiv, Kyiv, and Mariupol. According to them, this escalation will almost certainly result in more civilian fatalities and infrastructure damage.
Europe has reacted quickly, and many believe it is the most visible display of European mobilization in recent years. Poland, which already hosts an estimated 1.5 million Ukrainians (including naturalized citizens and temporary migrant workers), has taken in more than half of all new migrants, totaling over 2.2 million. In order to prepare, the country has established temporary homes, hospitals, and reception centers that provide food, information, and medical supplies.
The remaining refugees have fled to Belarus, Hungary, Moldova, Romania, Slovakia, and other European countries. Approximately 7.5 percent of new refugees, or approximately 271,000 persons, have fled to Russia. Officials in Ireland declared that all visa requirements for Ukrainians seeking shelter in their country will be waived, while the Czech Republic dropped its entrance prohibition and COVID-19 limitations for arriving refugees. Officials in the European Union (EU) unanimously supported a plan to activate the bloc’s Temporary Protection Directive, a never-before-used provision that would enable refugees fleeing Ukraine to join EU members for up to three years without seeking for asylum. Since 2017, Ukrainian nationals have been permitted to enter the EU without a visa, allowing them to seek refuge in any member state. Separately, the US has said that its forces in Poland will be prepared to assist with refugee evacuation.
According to some analysts, this response contrasts with many EU countries’ refusal to grant blanket asylum to the more than one million refugees who began arriving from Africa and the Middle East in 2015, or to the tens of thousands of mostly Iraqi refugees who sought entry at the Belarus-Poland border beginning in mid-2021. Other skeptics refer to the closed-door approach against refugees fleeing the humanitarian crisis in Yemen, as well as claims that certain Africans and Asians residing in Ukraine have been denied transportation and admission into neighboring EU countries.
Despite Russia’s permanent seat on the Security Council, the international community has voiced strong opposition to Moscow’s war.
On February 25, eleven of the fifteen Security Council members voted in support of a US-led resolution sharply denouncing the conflict and calling on Russia to remove its soldiers from Ukraine immediately; Russia’s veto, however, prevented the motion from passing. (China, India, and the United Arab Emirates voted against it.) A week later, the entire UN General Assembly convened in emergency session for the first time since 1997, and voted 141-5 in support of similar wording condemning the conflict.
Simultaneously, several UN organizations are taking action. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres quickly designated a crisis coordinator for Ukraine and announced $20 million in UN Central Emergency Response Fund assistance. Similarly, the United Nations Refugee Agency is attempting to gather $1.7 billion for humanitarian aid.