The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) on Tuesday raised the number of people who left Ukraine for some neighboring countries to 660,000 in the first five days of the war.
UNHCR spokeswoman Shabia Mantoo told a news conference that refugees have been waiting for hours to cross borders, some even taking more than two days to leave Ukrainian territory.
According to the agency’s representative, the exodus is also made more complex by low temperatures and transport problems, which sometimes force those fleeing the conflict to take long walks.
UNHCR indicates that Poland, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia and Moldova, all neighbors of Ukraine, are the main destinations in this flow of refugees.
International Organization for Migration (IOM), in turn, released a statement praising the decision of different governments to support the Ukrainian diaspora, through the granting of visas.
The entity highlighted that the European Union is debating granting Ukrainian refugees temporary protection status, which would allow this group to live and work for up to three years in one of the 27 countries that make up the bloc.
The IOM also announced that it is trying to assist the 470,000 foreigners it estimates are on Ukrainian territory, including students and migrant workers, many stranded in the country due to the conflict.
Some countries in Africa, the Middle East and Asia have asked IOM for help so that these migrants in Ukraine receive help, as well as the 6,000 estimated to have arrived in neighboring Moldova and Slovakia.
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