Conflicts & War

Over 3 million Ukrainian refugees have crossed into Poland

Krakow, Poland, Apr 28 (EFE).- More than three million Ukrainians have fled to neighboring Poland since the beginning of the Russian invasion, the Polish Border Guard reported on Thursday.

Some 24,800 entries have been counted in the past 24 hours, according to figures from the border guard.

In the opposite direction, 18,400 people crossed the border from Poland into Ukraine on Wednesday.

On April 24, Polish deputy interior minister Pawel Szefernaker said that the number of people who have traveled back to Ukraine from Poland had exceeded that of those who entered Poland for the first time since the onslaught started on February 24.

Analysts said that this could have happened because many Ukrainians might have wanted to celebrate Easter in their war-ravaged country, or transport aid and supplies to their friends and relatives who remain there.

The flow of Ukrainians leaving Poland increases the most during weekends, resulting in hours-long waits at the border crossings of Zosin and Dorohusk, Polish media pointed out.

Paweł Kaczmarczyk, head of the Centre of Migration Research at the University of Warsaw, told Efe that the border guard’s figures might not illustrate the full reality.

“Because although some people return (to Ukraine) to stay, others might go back there just to pick up or carry things or visit their relatives,” he said.

There is also no exact record of how many Ukrainians have stayed in Poland since many traveled on to other European Union states.EFE

mag/smq/ks

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