This article's factual accuracy may be compromised due to out-of-date information. The reason given is: In a highly fluid situation like this, almost all the information available in this article is from 2022 and early 2023. (December 2023) |
Part of humanitarian impact of the Russian invasion of Ukraine | |
A young Ukrainian refugee at Przemyśl train station in Poland | |
Date | February 2022–present |
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Location |
An ongoing refugee crisis began in Europe in late February 2022 after Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Over 6 million refugees fleeing Ukraine are recorded across Europe,[1] while an estimated 8 million others had been displaced within the country by late May 2022.[needs update][2][3][4] Approximately one-quarter of the country's total population had left their homes in Ukraine by 20 March.[5] 90% of Ukrainian refugees are women and children, while most Ukrainian men between the ages of 18 and 60 are banned from leaving the country.[6] By 24 March, more than half of all children in Ukraine had left their homes, of whom a quarter had left the country.[7][8] The invasion caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II and its aftermath,[9] is the first of its kind in Europe since the Yugoslav Wars in the 1990s, as well as the fourth largest refugee crisis in history,[10][11] and is the largest refugee crisis of the 21st century, with the highest refugee flight rate globally.[12][13]
The vast majority of refugees initially entered neighbouring countries to the west of Ukraine (Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, and Moldova).[14] Around 3 million people then moved further west to other European countries.[1][15] As of 18 July 2023, according to UNHCR data, the countries in which the largest numbers of Ukrainians had applied for asylum, or other temporary protection, were Poland (1.6 million), Germany (1 million) and the Czech Republic (0.54 million).[1] As of September 2022, Human Rights Watch documented that Ukrainian civilians were being forcibly transferred to Russia.[16] The UN Human Rights Office stated "There have been credible allegations of forced transfers of unaccompanied children to Russian occupied territory, or to the Russian Federation itself."[17][18] The United States Department of State estimated that at least 900,000 Ukrainian citizens have been forcibly relocated to Russia.[19] More than 4.5 million Ukrainians have returned to Ukraine since the beginning of the invasion.[1][20]
European Union (EU) countries bordering Ukraine have allowed entry to all Ukrainian refugees,[21] and the EU has invoked the Temporary Protection Directive which grants Ukrainians the right to stay, work, and study in any European Union member state for an initial period of one year.[22] Some non-European and Romani people have reported ethnic discrimination at the border.