The European Union has promised that all war refugees from Ukraine will be accepted. So does that mean all of them, or just Ukrainians? The EU then had to clarify it also meant African students from Kyiv.
“I don’t know how many will come,” EU Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson replied at the special meeting of EU interior ministers in Brussels when asked what influx of refugees from Ukraine she expects. “I think we will have to prepare for millions.”
By Sunday, four days after the Russian attack began, at least 200,000 people, mostly children, women and elderly men, had entered Poland, according to the Polish Border Guard. Men considered fit for military service are currently not allowed to leave Ukraine.
Estimates by the United Nations and refugee organizations put the number of people fleeing the Russian invasion at 4 to 7 million. How many will then actually want to cross Ukraine’s borders depends entirely on how the military situation in this war develops. Yet how long they want or need to stay depends on who wins or ends this war. If Russia stops its attacks and withdraws, the families could also quickly return to their fathers, sons and brothers, EU officials believe.
Source: www.dw.com, Photo: Radovan Stoklasa/Reuters
