Many Ukrainian families had to feel the experience of a refugee in connection with the war. Someone was forced to leave their homes in part of the border regions with the Russian Federation, someone protected the children and in the hope that this horror would end quickly – in the central regions, took the children to Western Ukraine, and someone went further – to Europe. In the first weeks of a full-scale invasion, everyone who left their homes hoped to return home quickly. But, unfortunately, the realities forced them to stay outside the city or the country for an indefinite period, of course, Ukrainian refugees had to learn to adapt and even integrate, hastily, by starting to learn foreign languages and customs. IA “FAKT” talked to Mila from Kryvyi Rih, who came to Germany since the beginning of the war.
Since the start of hostilities, there have been 6.5 million Ukrainian refugees worldwide, 6 million were registered in Europe, of which 5.5 million applied for asylum. The largest number of Ukrainians was registered in Poland – 1.6 million (some of them have left for other countries or returned to Ukraine and already number 960 thousand), in Germany – 1.1 million, and in the Czech Republic – 590 thousand.
By the end of 2023, Ukraine also had its own internally displaced persons, their number was 3.7 million. Of them, 80% remain internally displaced for more than a year, and 39% migrate across the country more than once.
Among other European countries, Estonia has the highest number of refugees per capita – 37 refugees per 1,000 inhabitants of the country. A significant proportion of the population is also made up of refugees in Moldova and Montenegro. And in Ireland, the Ukrainian community grew to 100,000 during the Ukrainian-Russian war, even though the country itself has only 5 million inhabitants. Countries far from us – America and Canada – did not become an exception to the reception of Ukrainians. More than 400,000 people found refuge overseas, of which about 300 reached the USA.
Ukrainians who were forced to leave their homes had to adapt to new living conditions. At the same time, the countries that provided shelter also adapted to a large number of refugees. The first experience of the mass arrival of refugees from the Middle East to European countries in 2015 was not as painful as in the case of Ukraine. Both the European authorities and the residents themselves had to get used to a large number of our citizens, which became a new experience for all parties. At the same time, many Europeans were surprised by the diligence and knowledge of Ukrainians, among them there are those who know many languages and are high-level professionals.
