New York, USA, 6 April 2022 — Nora Love, IRC Ukraine Team Lead, said:
“Alongside the harrowing images coming out of Bucha this week, news that the number of internally displaced people in Ukraine has leapt to more than 7 million paints a dismal picture of the spiralling situation in the east of the country. There is no doubt civilians are under attack. Given the continued violence against health care facilities, with over 85 destroyed or damaged as well as schools and homes, it seems there is no safe place for Ukraine’s population to take shelter. As people attempt the dangerous journey west, pressure will mount on the already fragile systems and infrastructure in cities now hosting growing populations. The humanitarian needs across Ukraine are immense; the IRC is calling for an immediate ceasefire and an end to this senseless violence.”
The IRC has been responding to humanitarian crises in Europe since 2015, where we launched an emergency response to the peak in migration in Greece and relaunched operations in Serbia. Our teams provided water, health and sanitation, and psychosocial support to refugees and migrants. Since then, the IRC has also provided support to refugees and migrants in Germany from 2016, Italy from 2017, and Bosnia-Herzegovina from 2020. Last year, the IRC also started to provide integration support to refugees and their local communities in the UK.