Since February 24, 2022, the situation not only in Europe but also in the world has changed forever. The events in Ukraine have affected not only Ukraine itself but also many countries in the world, including Poland.
With the start of hostilities, thousands of Ukrainians headed to the western borders of their country. Already on the first day of the conflict, queues of vehicles and pedestrians formed at border crossings with Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Moldova and Romania. Most of the refugees were women and children. Due to the imposition of martial law, men of Ukrainian citizenship between the ages of 18 and 60 are banned from leaving the country.
Since February 24, 2022, the day Russia’s aggression began, more than 11.7 million refugees from Ukraine have crossed the Polish-Ukrainian border, the Border Police reports. They are mainly women and children, according to the Guard.
24.8 thousand people have arrived in Poland over the past 24 hours. refugees from Ukraine, the Border Police reported on Tuesday, May 9. A total of 9.933 million people have returned to Ukraine since the start of the war.
About 1.3 million refugees from Ukraine are now living permanently in Poland with the intention of staying longer (data: 24.02.2023.) More than 1.5 million Ukrainians have applied for a PESEL number in Poland. About 200,000 Ukrainian children are studying in Polish schools.
1,600,000 Ukrainian refugees have received shelter from Polish families over the past year. Half a million refugees have benefited from collective accommodation over the past year. As of February 2023, some 80,000 refugees are using such points. These are places prepared, among others, by local governments and local government organizations. These are places of various standards: from market halls to farms and guesthouses,” Deputy Interior and Administration Minister Pawel Szefernaker described.
About half of the refugees who live in such spots have taken jobs. The largest number of refugees lived in Poland in the spring of 2022. At that time, for some Ukrainian citizens, Poland was a transit country and through our country they traveled further, to other European countries, for example, Germany, the Netherlands or France.
All these numbers give an unambiguous conclusion – the situation in Poland socially, culturally and economically has changed dramatically. Polish society faces a number of different challenges of which the social ones seem to be still very significant.
Sources
– https://www.strazgraniczna.pl/pl/granica/statystyki-sg/2206,Statystyki-SG.html
– @straż_Graniczna (Twitter)
– https://www.gov.pl/web/udsc/obywatele-ukrainy-w-polsce–aktualne-dane-migracyjne
