Because of the winter, fewer people are now returning to Ukraine than before the Russian missile attacks began in October last year. According to the United Nations, there is no new large refugee movement from Ukraine.
That is what the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, said in Kiev on Friday. During a visit to the neighboring Republic of Moldova, authorities confirmed to him that no more people are currently leaving Ukraine. “Winter is very hard with the conflict in some regions,” said Grandi. That is not encouraging for many people.
More than 90,000 Ukrainians in Austria
According to the United Nations, nearly eight million people have fled Ukraine so far, 92,019 of them to Austria. That is slightly less than the number of inhabitants in Klagenfurt. In Ukraine, there are about 6.5 million refugees in the country. “You can make a comparison with Bosnia and the Balkans, but the refugee flow was not that great, even though the conflict lasted several years,” said the UNHCR chief. Austria can also be proud of the high number of refugees it has received since 2015.
Grandi: Moscow violates child protection
Grandi was in Ukraine for six days and visited the cities of Odessa, Mykolaiv, Dnipro, Zaporizhia, Kharkiv and Poltava. Among other things, he criticized the lack of child protection in wartime: “Giving or taking their (children, note) (Russian) citizenship contradicts the fundamental principles of child protection in wartime situations”. However, the refugee organization cannot estimate how many children are involved. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova replied that Grandi had not commented on the children who died from Ukrainian shelling in Donbass.
While the UNHCR chief criticized the Russian government, he praised Germany. “I think Germany has given the UNHCR more than 80 million euros since the beginning of the war.” The United Nations is very grateful for that. Austria is also one of “our biggest supporters,” Grandi said during a visit to Vienna last year.
Source: Krone
I am Wallace Jones, an experienced journalist. I specialize in writing for the world section of Today Times Live. With over a decade of experience, I have developed an eye for detail when it comes to reporting on local and global stories. My passion lies in uncovering the truth through my investigative skills and creating thought-provoking content that resonates with readers worldwide.
