10 million fled Ukraine since war began

“It is one of the largest forced displacement crises since World War II, and certainly the fastest,” reads the latest UNHCR’s Global Trends report.

According to the UN, more than 6.1 million refugees from Ukraine have entered Poland, Romania, Moldova, Hungary, Russia, Slovakia, and Belarus as of Tuesday — while many have been forced to move within Ukraine.

Nearly four million have applied for temporary residence in a neighbouring country, the UN said.

Over five million people crossed to Poland, while another one million crossed to Hungary and Romania since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on 24 February.

Many refugees from Ukraine have also been forcibly sent to Russia, where they face human-rights abuses. The UN recorded nearly two million border crossings from Ukraine to Russia.

Last month, the UN praised Poland for providing support to refugees fleeing Ukraine.

It is estimated that more than 1.2 million refugees are currently residing in Poland — many of them being hosted as guests in the homes of Polish citizens.

With millions fleeing Ukraine, as well as forced displacement in Burkina Faso and Myanmar this year, more than 100 million people are forced to leave their homes — for the first time in history.

This means 1-in-78 people in the world has been forced to flee violence, war, hunger, prosecution, or extreme poverty.

The UN described it as “a dramatic milestone that few would have expected a decade ago”.

“This is a political crisis and it will be only solved with solidarity and political will,” the agency said on Twitter.

The latest UNHCR report, which is focused on 2021, also shows that Turkey reminded the largest refugee-hosting country in the world last year, hosting more than 3.8 million refugees.

In Europe, Germany was the second-largest refugee-hosting country, with 1.3 million refugees.