Post by Jaga on Mar 1, 2022 5:33:24 GMT -7
glad to hear that Ukrainians can feel safe in Poland.
www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/02/27/ukraine-russia-refugees-poland/
Miles-long lines, the kindness of strangers, an uncertain future: Scenes from the Ukraine-Poland border
PRZEMYŚL, Poland — Less than a week ago, the supermarket parking lot was just that — an expanse of cars in this sleepy river town a few miles from the Ukrainian border.
By Sunday, bus after bus filled with Ukrainians and others fleeing the besieged country arrived here, where they were met by crowds that had converged from all over Europe to greet the refugees with hot tea, borscht and offers of transport to all corners of a continent shocked by Russia’s invasion.
The exodus continues to grow all along Ukraine’s 1,600-mile western border: More than 500,000 people have fled since the war began last week, wrote Filippo Grandi, head of the U.N. refugee agency, in a tweet. E.U. Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson said Sunday that the European Union may grant temporary asylum to Ukrainians for up to three years. The plan could move ahead this week.
Latest updates on the war in Ukraine
Thousands more people in Ukraine are ready to escape but are stuck in seemingly endless waits at border posts where they hope to cross into Poland’s industrial southeast, or over the Carpathian Mountains into Slovakia and Hungary, or across the delta of the Danube into Romania.
Immigration authorities in the five countries immediately to Ukraine’s west have been overwhelmed, and many trying to flee have waited for days. Those with cars sleep in them. Those on foot will themselves to stay awake, unable to rest in the freezing overnight temperatures and fearful of losing their place in the miles-long lines. It’s a journey so arduous that some simply give up and decide to risk staying in Ukraine.
With people now beginning to arrive at these borders from the capital, Kyiv, as well as Ukraine’s east — the area hit worst by Russia’s attacks — the number languishing is set to rise dramatically.
‘I can’t feel my feet anymore’
At Medyka, the most trafficked post on the Ukraine-Poland border, the line of cars was backed up for over 20 miles on Sunday over gray and frozen country roads, almost halfway to Lviv, the most populous city in western Ukraine. Drivers swapped shifts between naps to lurch forward sporadically.
People from other parts of Poland and Europe hold signs with the names of cities to which they would be able to take Ukrainian refugees. (Kasia Strek for The Washington Post)
Many had driven furtively for days after fleeing shelling elsewhere, just to arrive in a place where they feel trapped. Some abandoned their vehicles and pushed forward on foot.
“I can’t feel my feet anymore. I think they are frozen,” said Olga Balaban, 26, who came on her own after making the wrenching decision to leave behind her parents, who refused to leave.
Catching up on the Russia-Ukraine crisis? Here’s the background you need to know.
Maksym Kozytskyy, the head of the Lviv state administration, said there were 30,000 people waiting outside or in their cars for as long as three days at the region’s train stations and six border crossings with Poland. The state’s emergency services set up tents, with snow falling on Sunday night.
“For three days, I didn’t eat a single bite of food, only water,” said Somnath Gaud, 22, a Nepalese citizen who was studying hotel management in Kyiv. Not only did he not eat, but also he didn’t sleep. He stayed standing for most of three nights, he recounted on Sunday morning, after finally crossing into Poland, where he devoured a pack of biscuits. “If I slept, I would have lost my place in line.”
www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/02/27/ukraine-russia-refugees-poland/
Miles-long lines, the kindness of strangers, an uncertain future: Scenes from the Ukraine-Poland border
PRZEMYŚL, Poland — Less than a week ago, the supermarket parking lot was just that — an expanse of cars in this sleepy river town a few miles from the Ukrainian border.
By Sunday, bus after bus filled with Ukrainians and others fleeing the besieged country arrived here, where they were met by crowds that had converged from all over Europe to greet the refugees with hot tea, borscht and offers of transport to all corners of a continent shocked by Russia’s invasion.
The exodus continues to grow all along Ukraine’s 1,600-mile western border: More than 500,000 people have fled since the war began last week, wrote Filippo Grandi, head of the U.N. refugee agency, in a tweet. E.U. Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson said Sunday that the European Union may grant temporary asylum to Ukrainians for up to three years. The plan could move ahead this week.
Latest updates on the war in Ukraine
Thousands more people in Ukraine are ready to escape but are stuck in seemingly endless waits at border posts where they hope to cross into Poland’s industrial southeast, or over the Carpathian Mountains into Slovakia and Hungary, or across the delta of the Danube into Romania.
Immigration authorities in the five countries immediately to Ukraine’s west have been overwhelmed, and many trying to flee have waited for days. Those with cars sleep in them. Those on foot will themselves to stay awake, unable to rest in the freezing overnight temperatures and fearful of losing their place in the miles-long lines. It’s a journey so arduous that some simply give up and decide to risk staying in Ukraine.
With people now beginning to arrive at these borders from the capital, Kyiv, as well as Ukraine’s east — the area hit worst by Russia’s attacks — the number languishing is set to rise dramatically.
‘I can’t feel my feet anymore’
At Medyka, the most trafficked post on the Ukraine-Poland border, the line of cars was backed up for over 20 miles on Sunday over gray and frozen country roads, almost halfway to Lviv, the most populous city in western Ukraine. Drivers swapped shifts between naps to lurch forward sporadically.
People from other parts of Poland and Europe hold signs with the names of cities to which they would be able to take Ukrainian refugees. (Kasia Strek for The Washington Post)
Many had driven furtively for days after fleeing shelling elsewhere, just to arrive in a place where they feel trapped. Some abandoned their vehicles and pushed forward on foot.
“I can’t feel my feet anymore. I think they are frozen,” said Olga Balaban, 26, who came on her own after making the wrenching decision to leave behind her parents, who refused to leave.
Catching up on the Russia-Ukraine crisis? Here’s the background you need to know.
Maksym Kozytskyy, the head of the Lviv state administration, said there were 30,000 people waiting outside or in their cars for as long as three days at the region’s train stations and six border crossings with Poland. The state’s emergency services set up tents, with snow falling on Sunday night.
“For three days, I didn’t eat a single bite of food, only water,” said Somnath Gaud, 22, a Nepalese citizen who was studying hotel management in Kyiv. Not only did he not eat, but also he didn’t sleep. He stayed standing for most of three nights, he recounted on Sunday morning, after finally crossing into Poland, where he devoured a pack of biscuits. “If I slept, I would have lost my place in line.”