The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
Edited News | UNESCO , UNHCR
Bi-Weekly Press Briefing: UNHCR Expands Operations in Poland for Ukrainian Refugees 27 May 2022
Amid rising needs of vulnerable Ukrainian refugees arriving to Poland, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has scaled up its activities in the country to provide aid as Poland continues to be the main country of arrival for Ukrainian refugees. More than 3.5 million have entered the country since the beginning of the war on 24 February.
Speaking from Warsaw at a news briefing at the United Nations in Geneva, UNHCR’s spokesperson Olga Sarrado said that “newly arrived refugees often come from areas heavily affected by the fighting, some having spent weeks hiding in bomb shelters and basements”. She added that “they often arrive in a state of distress and anxiety, having left family members behind, without a clear plan for where to go, and with less economic resources and connections than those who fled earlier”.
Noting that “the pace of arrivals has slowed down in comparison to early March, when over 100,000 people were arriving per day, to around 20,000 daily in the course of May”, Olga Sarrado said that “we have also seen more ‘pendular’ movements, where people go back and forth across the border to Ukraine for various reasons, including visiting families, checking their properties or returning to their jobs”.
Health services and medical needs are the main queries UNHCR staff receive from refugees. Other requests concern transportation, financial support, psychosocial needs, accommodation and access to social services, including for people with disabilities and older people.
UNHCR estimates that roughly “about 50 per cent of them would like to stay in Poland”. According to Olga Sarrado “the Polish authorities were mentioning as well that in between 1.5 to 2 million would be staying in their country.”
Given the large internal displacement due to the massive destruction and the ongoing hostilities in Ukraine, Poland expects to continue receiving large numbers of refugees.
Poland has put in place systems to ensure legal stay, access to employment, education, health care and other social welfare schemes for Ukrainian refugees.
“Over 1.1 million have registered with the Polish authorities, meaning they have received a state ID number (called PESEL), which gives them access to the services; 94 per cent of those registered are women and children”, said Ms. Sarrado.
UNHCR rolled out its cash assistance programme in March. As of today, UNHCR has established eight cash enrollment centres in the main refugee hosting areas, including Warsaw, Krakow, Poznan, Wroclaw, Ostroda, Gdynia and Gdansk. Over 100,000 refugees from Ukraine have already received financial support from UNHCR to cover their basic needs, such as paying rent or buying food and medicine.
According to UNHCR’s Ms Sarrado, “almost 20 per cent of those refugees that enrolled for cash assistance have specific needs.” She added that ”aid is provided to serious medical cases, older people, single mothers without family support, women at risk and people with disabilities and half of the children with specific needs are separated or unaccompanied.”
Cash is provided for a three-month period to those most in need until they can better support themselves or be included in government social protection systems.
-ends-
- Exterior medium shot, United Nations flag alley, a sunny day.
- Medium shot, participants typing on laptops in the foreground with TV screen showing speaker delivering the speech in the background.
- SOUNDBITE (English): Olga Sarrado, UNHCR spokesperson (from Poland): “The pace of arrivals has slowed down in comparison to early March, when over 100,000 people were arriving per day, to around 20,000 daily in the course of May.”
- Close-up, TV screen showing the speaker is delivering the speech.
- SOUNDBITE (English): Olga Sarrado, UNHCR spokesperson (from Poland): “We have also seen more ‘pendular’ movements, where people go back and forth across the border to Ukraine for various reasons, including visiting families, checking their properties or returning to their jobs.”
- Close-up, fingers typing on the laptop.
- SOUNDBITE (English): Olga Sarrado, UNHCR spokesperson (from Poland): “Our estimates, because of the interviews that we are doing in border monitoring, roughly say that about 50 per cent of them would like to stay in Poland. And actually, yesterday the Polish authorities were mentioning as well that in between 1.5 to 2 million would be staying in their country.”
- Close-up, fingers typing on the laptop.
- SOUNDBITE (English): Olga Sarrado, UNHCR spokesperson (from Poland): “Newly arrived refugees often come from areas heavily affected by the fighting, some having spent weeks hiding in bomb shelters and basements. They often arrive in a state of distress and anxiety, having left family members behind, without a clear plan on where to go, and with less economic resources and connections than those who fled before.”
- Close-up, participants, blurred, with TV screen showing Olga Sarrado delivering remote message to rear.
- SOUNDBITE (English): Olga Sarrado, UNHCR spokesperson (from Poland): “Over 1.1 million have registered with the Polish authorities, meaning, they have received a state ID number (called PESEL), which gives them access to the services; 94 per cent of those registered are women and children.”
- Medium shot, two participants, seated, following the press conference.
- SOUNDBITE (English): Olga Sarrado, UNHCR spokesperson (from Poland): “Almost 20 per cent of those refugees that enrolled for cash assistance have specific needs. Aid is provided to serious medical cases, older people, single mothers without family support, women at risk and people with disabilities and half of the children with specific needs are separated or unaccompanied.”
- Medium shot, two participants in front of their laptops, with TV screen showing speaker to rear.
- Close-up, participant with TV screen showing speaker delivering the speech to rear.
- Medium shot, participants seated, a journalist is holding a microphone and asking questions.
- Close-up, participants listening.
- Exterior wide shot, United Nations flag flying, a sunny day.
Similar Stories
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , WHO
UN Humanitarians reject Israeli plan to take over aid delivery
The reported Israeli proposal to deliver humanitarian supplies through hubs controlled by the military would be a breach of the core principles of neutral, impartial and independent aid delivery, the UN aid coordination office, OCHA, said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News , B-roll | OCHA
Gaza: ‘Worst-case scenario’ unfolds as two-month aid blockade deepens suffering - OCHA
Two months into a devastating aid blockade of Gaza food has run out and people are fighting over water amid relentless bombing, the UN’s humanitarian affairs coordination office (OCHA) said on Friday.
/Includes OCHA footage from Gaza City/
1
1
1
Edited News | UNRWA
Children in Gaza are going to bed starving, says aid agency
The biggest UN aid agency in Gaza on Tuesday condemned the two-month Israeli blockade on Gaza that has left families sharing a single tin of food at mealtime and the sick and injured without lifesaving medical help, amid daily bombardment.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNHCR
Ongoing Russian attacks in Ukraine force frontline areas to empty: UNHCR
With Ukrainian cities still reeling from this week’s deadly Russian missile and drone attacks, communities on the front line continue to be targeted too, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, said on Friday. “We also see attacks on frontline regions increasing and it's, as always, civilians that are bearing the highest cost of the war,” said Karolina Lindholm Billing, UNHCR Representative in Ukraine.
1
1
1
Edited News | WFP
Funding and supply shortfalls for the UN World Food Programme (WFP)'s work in Ethiopia will halt lifesaving treatment for 650,000 malnourished women and children at the end of the month. “We are at the breaking point,” it said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
Israeli military operations in Lebanon continue to kill and injure civilians, and destroy civilian infrastructure, raising concerns regarding the protection of civilians, the UN Human Rights Office warned today.
1
1
1
Edited News | IOM , UNWOMEN , UNDP
Sudan: Aid teams report massive displacement after latest Darfur atrocity; women’s bodies ‘turned into battlegrounds’
In Sudan’s North Darfur, tens of thousands of people have fled a displacement camp following the massacre of civilians and aid workers as the country enters the third year of a conflict marked by horrific levels of sexual violence, UN humanitarians said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | ITC
Global trade could shrink by three per cent as a result of the United States’ new tariff measures which in the longer term could reshape and boost as-yet untapped regional commercial links, a top UN economist confirmed on Friday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
Warring parties in Sudan are overseeing a wholesale assault on human rights amid global inaction, the UN Human Rights Office said on Friday, as the conflict is about to enter its third year.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
The UN Human Rights Office on Friday said Israel’s increasing issuance of so-called “evacuation orders” for Palestinians in Gaza have resulted in their forcible transfer.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , OHCHR , UNHCR , UNWOMEN , WFP , WHO
Two years of war in Sudan have created epic suffering, aid agencies say
Two years since Sudan’s brutal conflict began, UN agencies warned that famine is spreading and civilians of all ages continue to suffer shocking abuse, including rape and gang rape.
1
1
Edited News | UNMAS
In Gaza, ongoing Israeli military operations and the aid blockade have continued to add to daily fears and hardships confronting those in the devastated enclave, the UN Mine Action Service, UNMAS, said on Wednesday.