A sleeveless white sweater placed on another sweater, purple, elegant blonde hair, she looks tired. The 74-year-old lady arrived this morning after a night’s train. Nadia left everything a few hours ago, after resisting for months. Since the start of the war, she has never lived very far from her suitcases, between her apartment in the Ukrainian capital and her grandson’s house in a nearby town.
But in recent weeks, it was too much: she could no longer stay in kyiv. The repeated air alerts, and especially the power cuts – and therefore heating –, while the outside temperature is around – 10°C, ended up becoming unbearable. Near her, in the dormitory with its light wood bunk beds, a bag is on the floor. “I came alone, my grandson will take care of the apartment. I don’t know when I will return. »
Nadia is one of the refugees who have arrived in recent days at this Caritas center in Przemysl, a town in eastern Poland located less than 15 kilometers from the Ukrainian border. Of the “thermal refugees”, as they are already called here. On the other side of the border, more than 2 million people have taken refuge in Lviv.
According to forecasts by the Polish authorities, with the drop in temperatures, the continuation of the attack on Ukrainian energy infrastructures by Russia and the onset of winter, at least 700,000 people should soon cross the border. A “second wave” of refugees a few months after the one that caused the arrival in the country of 7 million people (the majority of whom have since returned to Ukraine), after the start of the Russian offensive in February.
16 centers open
Nadia now has 48 hours to decide what she will do: return to Ukraine or organize her stay in Poland. This is the rule, in this reception center located within the Greek Catholic archbishopric of the city, where the Church has completely refurbished its vast building since last spring. In this region very close to Ukraine, we got organized, after the first chaotic weeks.
“When we started, I was almost day and night at the station, and there was only a secretary to help me”, remembers Father Marek Machala, hard at work for months. In Przemysl, the Catholic Church has opened no less than 16 centers to welcome refugees. At the start of the war, more than 500 women and children were received here a day.
This priest, who has now hired twenty people, fears an erosion of material and financial support from abroad. “We still need support, the world should not forget it”, he urges. A fear of being forgotten that we find among all humanitarian actors in the region.
“People are very tired”
Officials mobilized for the reception of Ukrainian refugees also warn of a form of weariness of Polish society. “People are both very affected by the situation of Ukrainians, but at the same time very tired”admits Father Marek Machala.
The feeling is the same in Krakow, a little further west, where several thousand Ukrainians have settled and are trying to find work. Like in the bookstore run by Krystyna. “For my part, everything is going very well, but I hear more and more criticism around me”, explains the bookseller. “Last week, my cousin called me furious, because at the doctor’s office she had met a Ukrainian woman who explained to her that she had free and immediate access to care, whereas she had had to pay and wait for have a meeting “, she illustrates. Before resuming: “But we will have to deal with these tensions. Because we are and will remain on the front line, and the crisis is still very far from over. »
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Nearly 8 million Ukrainian refugees in Europe
As of December 20, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) registered 7,863,339 Ukrainian refugees across Europe, including 4,862,561 enrolled in a temporary protection program or similar national protection scheme.
Poland currently hosts around 1.5 million refugees on its territory, according to the UNHCR on the same date.
As of November 20, Germany housed more than a million.
By way of comparison, France On October 31, there were nearly 119,000 Ukrainian refugees on its territory.