‘More than 50,000 people’ have left the country in two days, says UN High Commissioner for Refugees

“More than 50,000 people left Ukraine in two days”, announced Friday, February 25 exclusively on franceinfo Filippo Grandi, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the day after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. This exodus is directed mainly towards Poland and Moldavia.

>>> War in Ukraine: “I packed my bags in thirty minutes and we left the city”

“Inside the country, there is a movement of exodus from the big cities which is massive”he explains. “Hundreds of thousands of people are on the move in the country.”

“Dark day for world peace. In a war there are no winners but countless broken lives.” @FilippoGrandi

People started to flee their homes in search of shelter. UNHCR is stepping up its operations in #Ukraine & in neighboring countries.https://t.co/F5SIGwardH

— UNHCR in France (@UNHCRfrance) February 24, 2022

Filippo Grandi assures him, “It’s a refugee crisis” which is already present, and “this crisis could be long”. According to him, “hopefully it doesn’t become insurmountable and colossal.” The United Nations High Commissioner takes the opportunity to “thank those countries that have kept the borders open”in particular Poland which has already received 30,000 Ukrainians and Moldova which has already received 20,000.

But for Filippo Grandi, “it is inside Ukraine that the major humanitarian crisis will develop” because “many will try to get out and many will not be able”. He, who has worked for more than 30 years in the field of refugees, assures us that “When cities are hit by war, it’s always catastrophic.” He ends by hoping “that humanitarian law be respected, that the lives of civilians be respected, that civilian infrastructure be respected.”