GENEVA: Nearly 3.7 million people have fled Ukraine since Russia’s invasion a month ago, the UN said Thursday, warning that half of the country’s children are now displaced.
The UN refugee agency, UNHCR, said 3,674,952 Ukrainians had fled the country – an increase of 48,406 from the previous day’s figure.
In total, more than 10 million people – over a quarter of the population in regions under government control before the February 24 invasion – are now thought to have fled their homes, including nearly 6.5 million who are internally displaced.
Ukraine’s refugee crisis is Europe’s worst since World War II, and nearly half of all those who have been displaced are children.
The UN children’s agency Unicef said Thursday that a full 4.3 million children – more than half of Ukraine’s estimated 7.5 million child population – had been forced to leave their homes.
More than 1.8 million of those children have become refugees, while another 2.5 million are displaced inside their war-ravaged country, it said.
Here is a breakdown of which neighboring countries Ukrainian refugees have headed to:
– Poland –Six out of 10 Ukrainian refugees – 2,173,944 so far — have crossed into Poland, according to UNHCR.
Polish border guards put the number even higher, at 2.2 million.
Many people who cross into Ukraine’s immediate western neighbors continue on to other states in Europe’s Schengen open-borders zone.
Poland’s railway operator said Tuesday that nearly 200,000 who had crossed from Ukraine had since taken free train services abroad.
Many are also going in the opposite direction. Border guards said earlier this week that some 274,000 people have left Poland for Ukraine since the war began.
– Romania –
Some 563,519 Ukrainians have entered EU member state Romania, including a large number who have crossed over from Moldova, wedged between Romania and Ukraine.
The vast majority are thought to have gone on to other countries.
– Moldova –
The Moldovan border is the nearest to the major port city of Odessa.
UNHCR said 374,059 Ukrainians had crossed into the non-EU state, one of the poorest in Europe.
To reduce congestion, organised convoys leave daily from the Palanca crossing for Romania, with the most vulnerable prioritized for transfer.
– Hungary –
Some 330,877 Ukrainian have entered Hungary, according to UNHCR.
– Russia –
Some 271,254 refugees have sought shelter in Russia, according to UNHCR figures last updated on March 22.
In addition, 113,000 people had crossed into Russia from the separatist-held pro-Russian regions of Donetsk and Lugansk in eastern Ukraine between February 21 and 23.
– Slovakia –
Some 260,244 have crossed Ukraine’s shortest border into Slovakia.
– Belarus –
Some 5,569 refugees have made it north to Belarus.
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