The number of refugees from the war in Ukraine exceeds two million

The number of refugees who have fled Ukraine to escape the conflict has exceeded this Tuesday the threshold of two million, as reported by the UN, which considers this displacement crisis the fastest exodus in Europe since the Second World War. “Today, the flow of refugees from Ukraine reaches two million people. Two million,” emphasized the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Filippo Grandi, on his Twitter account.

Today the outflow of refugees from Ukraine reaches two million people.

Two million.

— Filippo Grandi (@FilippoGrandi) March 8, 2022

More than 1.2 million people have already arrived in Poland alone who have crossed the border from Ukraine, although the flow is equally constant towards Slovakia (140,000), Hungary (191,000), Romania (82,000) and Moldova (82,000), according to UN figures. UNHCR has also found that about 100,000 people have arrived on Russian territory, although in this case the figures are not so clear. The Russian authorities have assured this Tuesday that 173,000 people have been evacuated from Donbas, according to the TASS news agency.

Later, UNHCR published statements by Grandi in which, although he appreciates the reception he received upon his arrival in the region, he acknowledges the deep sadness caused by the situation in Ukraine. “At the borders I saw an exodus of people, mostly women and children, along with elderly refugees and people with disabilities. They arrived shocked and deeply impacted by the violence and their arduous journeys to safety. Families have been senselessly torn apart.” “, he indicated.

Likewise, Grandi has valued Europe’s response, especially to the Polish government and organizations for their “commendable and well-organized welcome”. These words have also been extended to Moldova and Romania and the rest of Ukraine’s neighboring countries. However, the High Commissioner considers it “imperative” that the international community take “a step forward to provide much more support” to refugees and host communities, especially in Moldova.

In addition, according to the latest data from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), between February 24 and March 7 until 24:00 on March 7, 2022 (local time), at least 861 people have been injured and 474 have died as a result of the war in Ukraine, among which are 17 minors. The most affected areas of Ukraine are Kiev and the regions of Cherkasy, Chernigov, Kharkiv, Kherson, Mykolaiv, Odessa, Sumy, Zaporizhia and Yitomir, where at least 378 deaths and 412 injuries would have been recorded. “The office believes the true figures are considerably higherespecially in the territory controlled by the Government and especially in recent days, since the receipt of information from some places where intense hostilities have taken place has been delayed and many reports are still pending corroboration,” said the spokeswoman for the institution, Liz Throssell, in a statement.

This would affect, for example, the cities of Volnovaja, Mariúpol or Izium, where there are reports of hundreds of civilian victims. According to OHCHR, the majority of recorded attacks on civilians were for the use of explosive weapons, including heavy artillery shelling, multiple rocket launch systems, and aerial missile strikes.

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Discrimination in evaluation

On the other hand, Grandi has spoken about the reports that denounce discrimination during the evacuation processes in favor of Ukrainian citizens and to the detriment of foreigners in this country. “I expressed my concern to the relevant authorities, since any act of discrimination or racism must be condemned and all people must be protected,” said Grandi, who also reported that the authorities promised that the states would not reject people fleeing Ukraine.