WiNK

by: Molly Sullivan

The refugee crisis has grown immensely recently due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, as more than 4 million people in Ukraine have fled their homes to neighboring countries. Many are going to Poland because Poland has set up refugee shelters along the border. Some people are returning to Ukraine to gather their families or to join the Ukraine military, to fight against Russian forces.

Here are some of the neighboring countries people from Ukraine are fleeing to: Poland, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, Republic of Moldova. Poland has taken in the most refugees, with about 2,336,799 refugees. Most are fleeing to Poland because Poland's government has told refugees from neighboring countries that they are allowed to stay in the country for up to 180 days, they can access the labor market, healthcare system, and social benefits. Borders seem to be opened for the time being.

Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the war has triggered Europe's worst refugee crisis in decades. This current crisis is estimated to affect about 18 million people. Ukraine's total population is estimated to be 41.4 million people. So this crisis is said to affect nearly half of Ukraine's population. There is a number of about 6.5 million people that are displaced inside Ukraine, and a total of 4,244,595 refugees that have fled Ukraine since February 24, 2022.

Some ways I've heard of people helping refugees is by donating Airbnbs. By this I mean that people have been using airbnb as a way of immediately helping people who are living through the war in Ukraine. Thousands of people have booked airbnbs so that refugees have a place to stay. Another way people are helping is by finding different organizations to donate to. A good thing for people to do if they are going to donate to an organization is to make an unrestricted donation which allows the money to be used where and when it is most needed at that time.

Here's a list of some organizations that are helping ukraine:

• The Voices of Children Foundation
  • https://voices.org.ua/en/
• United Help Ukraine
  • https://unitedhelpukraine.org/
• Territory of Kindness
  • https://vuf-td.space/
• People in Need
  • https://www.peopleinneed.net/what-we-do/humanitarian-aid-and-development/ukraine
• Save the Children
  • https://www.savethechildren.org/
• CARE
  • https://www.care.org/
• Unicef
  • https://www.unicefusa.org/