After the war that started on February 24, 2022, when Russian President Vladimir Putin declared a “special military operation” in Ukraine, people escaping from conflicts, especially in the country’s eastern regions, sought asylum in various European countries. During this period, Poland hosted a significant wave of Ukrainian refugees, and the influx was massive. This migration flow to Poland is due to the close geographical and cultural ties between Poland and Ukraine and the fact that Poland is in the Schengen Area.
According to the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) statements, the fastest-growing refugee crisis in Europe after World War II is experienced with the Ukraine-Russia War. According to the NUMBERS announced by the UN, the number of refugees accepted by Poland was 1,028,000 people in the first month of the war. The number of refugees entering Poland from Ukraine from the moment the war started to September 17, 2023, was announced as 15 million and 630 thousand.
Even though 1.5 years have passed since the start of the war, migration from Ukraine to Poland continues. According to the statements of Polish border guards, there has been an intense transition to Poland since the beginning of the war, and the total number of Ukrainians leaving Poland was recorded as 13 million and 883 thousand people. Many Ukrainian refugees who escaped from Russian attacks and took shelter in Poland either moved to other countries or decided to return to Ukraine. As of September 2023, the number of war refugees from Ukraine to Poland is recorded as 1.3 million people.
Ukrainian refugees migrated by trains, private vehicles, buses, and sometimes on foot. Ukrainians were provided with all kinds of convenience when entering Poland, and they were not required to bring documents with them. In order to receive refugee status, it was deemed sufficient to be a Ukrainian citizen or to live legally in Poland as an international student. UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, has praised the fact that Poland was the country that accepted the most Ukrainian refugees after the start of the Russia-Ukraine War and that he was pleased with Poland’s humanitarian behavior towards refugees within the scope of its migration policies.
The Polish Government opened its doors to Ukrainian refugees, providing them temporary shelter, food, healthcare, and other basic needs. The Polish Government has also supported various humanitarian projects to help refugees. The government, which evaluates the asylum applications of Ukrainian refugees in a short time and provides them with temporary protection, aims to ensure that the refugees have access to a safe life for a certain period.
Poland eased border controls for Ukrainian refugees and provided visa facilities; thus, Ukrainians were able to enter Poland much more easily and quickly. Language learning, vocational training, employment opportunities, and adaptation processes to the local society were supported through social assistance and integration programs for Ukrainian refugees, and the Polish Government contributed to aid and support programs for them in cooperation with international aid organizations and other countries. This immense wave of migration of Ukrainian refugees to Poland has been considered an essential humanitarian and social issue for both Poland and other European Union countries, and the EU’s general refugee policies and aid programs have been effective in Poland’s support for Ukrainians.
While Ukrainian war refugees prefer to stay in Poland due to family ties, language similarity, close cultural ties, and family relations, the Polish Government is concerned about the increasing number of Ukrainian refugees coming to the country day by day, the collapse of the system due to the population structure in the country, and the regions close to the border being attacked by Russia. At the same time, most Polish citizens believe that financial support to Ukrainian refugees of 500 zlotys (about $110) per month per child should be ended.
As a result of Poland taking measures with some Eastern European countries to prevent domestic market prices from falling due to the abundance of grain in Ukraine and Ukrainian politicians targeting Poland regarding grain imports, Poles began to act negatively about helping Ukrainian refugees. Although the EU has made attempts to solve the problem of Ukrainian war refugees in Poland facing a negative attitude due to this situation, it has not yet achieved a solution.
In conclusion, Poland opened its doors to refugees coming from Ukraine due to the war, continued its efforts to provide aid to refugees by cooperating with the EU, and acted in coordination with the international community.
