10 million
Ukrainians, accounting for over half of this country’s population, were forced
out of their homes due to the war Russian launched nearly a month ago. The
figure also reflects the scale of the humanitarian crisis, the United Nations
High Commissioner for Refugees announced. Nearly 90% of refugees are women and
children, considering men aged 18-60 have been barred from leaving Ukraine and
can be called up to defend their country. In turn, UNICEF warned that over 1
million and a half children are among those who left the country. The risk of
trafficking and abuse continues to rise, the organization also warns. Although it
is not the main destination of Ukrainian refugees, Romania has taken in
hundreds of thousands of refugees. The way these refugees were treated here has
been unanimously praised by Romania’s partners. The European Commission this
week will send a team to Romania to assess the funds the Romanian Government
has invested in the relief effort, and to discuss ways of reimbursement.
Government spokesman Dan Cărbunaru said the first reimbursement requests have
already been submitted to Brussels.
According to a
preliminary assessment, our country has spent 30.5 million Euro in assistance
provided to refugees. The breakdown of this spending is complex, because it
also accounts for accommodation and food. The Government has decided to provide
free-of-charge transport to refugees entering Romania. Many of them choose to
leave our country either via Bulgaria or Hungary.
In other news, the
Government is working on a national plan for refugee assistance. The
authorities want to help refugees find employment and access the healthcare and
education systems. Six special task forces will be handling specific issues
signaled by refugees who choose to stay, focusing on sensitive sectors such as
education, healthcare, employment, housing and support provided to vulnerable
categories, children in particular. State adviser Mădălina Turza says the task forces will be drafting a number of
measures with medium- and long-term effects in the shortest time possible,
allowing Romania to move to phase two of the relief effort starting April.
Phase two has to do
with developing quality services and a wide array of protection measures on the
medium- and long-term addressing refugees in Romania. They will also benefit
from temporary forms of protection.
Nearly 80 thousand Ukrainian citizens have chosen to
stay in Romania, of whom 4,000 have already filed for asylum.