Russian offensive in Ukraine: neighboring countries ready for a massive influx of refugees

All the way to Europe. While Ukraine has been bombarded by Russia since Thursday, February 24, its neighbors who are members of the European Union (EU) are preparing for a possible influx of refugees.

In the foreground, Poland, which shares a long border with Ukraine, has expressed its support for its big eastern neighbor and its willingness to help it. “Poland is preparing for different scenarios related to the tense situation,” the interior ministry told AFP on Wednesday. Contingency plans against a potential humanitarian crisis have been under consideration for several weeks in the country where around 1.5 million Ukrainian nationals already live.

Poland ready for “a wave of up to a million people”

“The Interior Ministry has been taking measures for some time to prepare us for a wave of even up to a million people,” Poland’s Deputy Interior Minister said last month. Maciej Wasik.

Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has since set up a working group to define the needs in terms of logistics, transport, medical care and education necessary to receive Ukrainian refugees.

“We are ready to welcome children and young people to schools and students to Polish universities,” Education Minister Przemyslaw Czarnek said on Wednesday.

On Thursday, Germany, for its part, said it was ready to “massively help” its neighbors, especially Poland, in the event of an influx of refugees.

At the end of her talks in Warsaw on Tuesday, the European Commissioner for Home Affairs, Ylva Johansson, had, for her part, underlined that Poland was “quite well prepared to welcome a large number of Ukrainians”. According to her, the European Commission is ready to provide this country with economic support if necessary, as well as the help of the European agency for asylum, Europol and the European border agency, Frontex.

In Slovakia, four refugee camps could accommodate Ukrainian asylum seekers

Slovakia would also be affected by an influx of Ukrainian migrants: the country shares its eastern border with Ukraine. The country’s authorities have said they are ready to reach out to the Ukrainian people.

“We have ready plans for possible pressure from the refugees,” Defense Minister Jaroslav Nad said on Tuesday.

Concretely, there are four refugee camps that can accommodate Ukrainian asylum seekers, according to the Minister of the Interior, Roman Mikulec. “If the situation requires it, we can also use the existing accommodation facilities of the Ministry of Interior and other ministries,” he told reporters.

Romania could set up reception centers

Romania, which is one of the poorest countries in Europe, said it did not expect many Ukrainians to flee to its territory, but was ready to take in half of them. million.

“This is the figure for which we are prepared,” Defense Minister Vasile Dancu said on Tuesday.

Romania could set up reception centers, including in major cities along the 650 kilometers of its border with Ukraine, he said.

“Tents, beds, blankets, heaters… Everything can be assembled and installed in less than twelve hours,” said Alexandru Moldovan, the prefect of Suceava in the north.

“A new refugee crisis”, according to the UN

Even Hungary, whose Prime Minister Viktor Orban is known for his tough stance on migration, seemed ready to welcome refugees.

“In the event of war, hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of refugees would arrive from Ukraine and fundamentally reshape the political and economic situation in Hungary,” he recently agreed. “We are working for peace, but of course designated state agencies have begun preparations.”

On Tuesday, Hungary announced that it would deploy its troops to the border with Ukraine for security and humanitarian aid purposes. “If refugees arrive, they must be housed and receive care,” Defense Minister Tibor Benko said on Wednesday.

The president of Moldova, another country bordering Ukraine, tweeted that more than 4,000 people had crossed the border on Thursday. “The government has deployed centers near Palanca and Ocnita”, two towns close to the border, said Maia Sandu. “Our borders are open to Ukrainian citizens who need a safe place.”

This conflict triggered by Russia could however result in “a new refugee crisis” with “up to five million additional people displaced”, warned on Wednesday, the American ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, before the United Nations General Assembly.

The Norwegian Refugee Council, a leading organization, warned in this regard earlier this month that if millions of people were forced to leave their places of residence in this way, humanitarian groups would find it difficult to even respond. only a fraction of their needs.