At least 2.8 million people have fled Ukraine since the Russian invasion began on 24 February, according to the latest count released today by the UN.
The UN also recorded around two million internally displaced persons.
The UNHCR recorded exactly 2,808,792 refugees from Ukraine on its dedicated website, i.e. 110.512 more than the previous count yesterday, Sunday, March 13.
Some 127,000 of these refugees are third-country nationals, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
Europe has not seen such a large wave of refugees since World War II, according to High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi.
Four million people may want to flee the country to escape the war, according to early UN projections.
At least one million children have now fled Ukraine, according to Unicef which said: They need peace NOW.
Prior to this conflict, Ukraine had a population of at least 37 million in Kiev-controlled territories which do not include Crimean-annexed Russia, nor the zones under pro-Russian separatist control.
Poland alone has received more than half of the refugees who have fled Ukraine since the Russian invasion began, or about 6 in 10 refugees.
As of February 24, 1,720,227 people who fled to escape the conflict in Ukraine have entered Poland, according to the HCR.
Tens of thousands of people are also crossing the border in the opposite direction. These are mostly men who work in Poland but are returning to enlist.
Before this crisis, Poland had about 1.5 million Ukrainians who had come, the majority of them, to work in the European Union member state.
Hungary hosts 255,291 people, according to HCR data ending March 13.
The country has five border outposts with Ukraine and many border towns, such as Zahoni, have turned public buildings into aid centers where Hungarian citizens come to offer food or assistance.
Slovakia counts 204,862 people who have fled Ukraine, according to HCR data ending March 13,.
According to authorities, 8,882 people entered Slovakia from Ukraine yesterday.
The number of people taking refuge in Russia stood at nearly 131,365 as of March 13, 25,000 more than in the previous count.
The HCR also notes that from February 18 to 23, 96,000 people crossed from the separatist pro-Russian regions of Donetsk and Luhansk into Russia.
After arriving in Moldova, a small country of 2.6 million people, 96,000 people crossed into Russia. 2.2 million inhabitants and one of the poorest in Europe, some of the refugees continue their journey to Romania or Hungary, often to be reunited with their families.
According to the authorities, 297,728 people have entered Moldova from Ukraine, and 198.513 have departed.
According to the HCR count, 106,994 refugees from Ukraine were registered in the country as of March 13.
The HCR has not updated the statistics concerning Romania. The UN refugee agency counted nearly 85,000 refugees on 8 March. As for Moldova, many refugees decide to continue their journey after finding safety.
According to the authorities, 14,475 Ukrainians entered (-13%) yesterday, including 6,612 directly from Ukraine. Since February 24, authorities have recorded the entry of 412,017 people. They no longer give figures for Ukrainians who left Romania.
The HCR also clarified that just over 304,000 people continued their journey, after crossing the Ukrainian border, to other European countries, according to figures stopping on March 11.
Source: protothema.gr
Contents of this article including associated images are belongs to Cyprus Times
Views & opinions expressed are those of the author and/or Cyprus Times
Source
