“It has limits”: support for Ukrainian refugees in Europe will drop in 2023 – WP

The governments of some European countries may cut the funding of centers for refugees from Ukraine. This was reported by the American newspaper The Washington Post.

“This is unlike any war or any other refugee crisis in our time because it is currently taking place in a very cold place where 14 million people have been displaced by violence,” said Jan Egeland, Secretary General of the Norwegian Council for Refugee Affairs.

The publication states that European volunteers face the difficult task of supporting Ukrainians in 2023. Yaroslav Olek, an employee of the Polish social center, noted that help from ordinary people “has its limits.”

With the onset of the large-scale invasion, Olak housed refugees for free in his apartment in Warsaw, and also transported humanitarian aid to Ukraine. The volunteer admitted to reporters that he was waiting for the second wave of immigrants from Ukraine.

According to the UN, about a third of Ukrainians had to leave their homes after February 24, 2022. The organization states that this is the largest migration crisis in Europe since the Second World War.

European social institutions cannot say the exact number of current and potential refugees from Ukraine. In the summer of 2022, many people chose to return to their homeland and as a result, some refugee reception centers were closed.

The situation began to change rapidly after the Russian Federation’s massive attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. The Ukrainian government has urged departing citizens to spend the winter abroad.

What will the refugee situation be like in 2023?

Data from a recent UN survey show that only 7 percent of respondents in Ukraine plan to leave their country. UNHCR representative Olga Sarrado states that there has been no increase in the influx of Ukrainian refugees to Europe in the last two weeks of 2022.

The exception was two countries neighboring Ukraine – Poland and Romania. According to Mihaela Munteanu, director of the Romanian refugee centre, many Ukrainians now transport their elderly loved ones to Romania.

The UN noted that many Ukrainians choose to stay in neighboring Poland, Hungary, Moldova and Romania. The economies of these countries have a smaller margin of safety than Western countries and the increase in energy prices is felt more strongly in these countries.

Bela Silaji, Head of Baptist Aid for Hungary, told reporters that many Hungarians have lost their enthusiasm to help Ukrainian refugees. One of WP’s Polish interlocutors explains that the Poles want to provide assistance, but their resources are running out.

The Washington Post claims that in 2023, state support for refugees in Poland could be reduced. Ukrainians will have to pay part of their housing and food bills. At the same time, private shelters for Ukrainians will have the opportunity to receive help from the government.

It was also reported that in some Latvian cities the budgets allocated for sheltering refugees were exhausted, but Latvian authorities continued to finance aid to Ukrainians until June 2023. A similar situation is observed in Hungary and Romania.

Recall that in 2022 Ukrainian refugees brought several thousand pets to the UK. In addition to cats and dogs, the Ukrainians took with them Australian parrots, chinchillas, guinea pigs, hamsters, rabbits, rats and turtles.

Focus he also wrote that on 30 December, the Finnish Ministry of Internal Affairs announced the extension of visas for refugees from Ukraine. Finnish authorities initially allowed Ukrainian citizens to stay in the country until March 2023.

Earlier, the Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmygal announced what measures the Ukrainian government will take to repatriate refugees in the spring of 2023. In an interview with Interfax on December 22, Shmyhal said that people need jobs, shelter and guaranteed security.