World
Ukrainian refugees walk across a bridge at the buffer zone of the Polish border in western Ukraine on March 6, 2022. Photo: Daniel Leal/AFP
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Over two million refugees have fled Ukraine since Russia launched its full-scale invasion on February 24, United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) data showed on Tuesday, with over half of all those uprooted currently in Poland. The same day, Poland’s ambassador to Iraq Marcin Kubiak sat down with Rudaw to discuss his country’s response to the humanitarian crisis.
Russia launched a military operation against Ukraine late last month, and controls several areas of the country so far. Millions of Ukrainians have fled to the eastern province of Lviv and abroad. Despite calls from the international community, Moscow appears determined to continue the offensive.
Western countries have until now refused to become directly involved in the unprovoked Russian war to avoid the further escalation of the conflict, despite fierce criticism and appeals from Ukrainians, but Kyiv’s allies are providing weapons and neighbouring countries have opened their borders and hearts.
Speaking to Rudaw, the Polish ambassador to Iraq laid out the measures Poland has taken to deter the continuation of war and to achieve peace in Ukraine.
“Everybody who seeks refuge from the war in Ukraine is welcome on the Polish territory, including citizens of Iraq,” he said.
“Since democratic changes in 1989, we [Poland] have been actively pursuing stability and peace in the region,” Kubiak said. “Precisely for this reason, we have always been an ardent advocate of Ukrainian sovereignty and [the] Ukrainian right to self-determination, because we believe that long-term peace and stability in Europe is not possible without a sovereign Ukraine.”
“We Europeans know the value of peace. We have lived through too much of history including two global wars of our own making. The twentieth century was a big lesson about what kind of ordeal nationalisms, communism, nazism and militarism can bring.”
“The idea of the European Union rests on the promise that only peaceful and fair cooperation of democratic nations can ensure stability. The concept has been proven [to be] very effective… By waging war against the Ukrainian nation in pursuit of its own security, Russia brings back memories of an inglorious past.”
Asked about the origins of the war, the ambassador commented that, “Russia’s domestic problems heavily factored in the overall calculation,” and that “the conflict seemed inevitable.”
Poland in particular has championed the cause of Ukrainian refugees, with the setting up of reception centres, and the Polish government on Monday proposed a law allowing Ukrainians to remain in Poland for at least eighteen months before needing to renew any permits. Ukrainians would also be allowed to work and access state schools and healthcare, and Polish citizens who take Ukrainian refugees into their homes would be eligible for financial support for two months; around 40 PLN per person per day (just under 9 dollars), or 1,200 PLN (268 dollars) per month.
“Daily inflow oscillates between 40 to 60 thousand people, mostly women and children,” Kubiak told Rudaw. “Regardless of the number of refugees, Polish authorities declared that anyone fleeing from war in Ukraine can count on the support of Poland.”
“Cities are collecting information about available accommodation for refugees. A special train connection was established between the city of Przemyśl in south-eastern Poland and the western Ukrainian city of Lviv. The train transports humanitarian aid to Lviv and brings back refugees,” he continued.
“The Polish Red Cross, Polish Center For International Aid, Polish Medical Mission and several other foundations and non-governmental organizations have begun collecting donations for Ukrainian refugees. They are offering various forms of support to Ukrainians - medical assistance, tents, camp beds, sleeping bags, blankets, food and hygiene products… In dozens of places all over Poland people are donating blood and collecting money for Ukrainian refugees.”
Around 5,500 Iraqis are believed to have been living across Ukraine at the beginning of last month, including 450 Iraqi students. Ahmed al-Sahaf, a spokesperson for Iraq's foreign ministry, told Rudaw on Tuesday that the Iraqi embassy in Ukraine had so far supported the safe withdrawal of approximately one thousand Iraqis from the country, “with some arriving in Poland and others arriving in Romania.”
Asked about the difference between Ukrainian refugees and other refugees entering from Ukraine to Poland, Kubiak said that his country did not distinguish between nationalities, races or ethnicities.
Quizzed further on the measures taken to help Iraqi students in Ukraine, Kubiak explained how the Iraqi embassy in Warsaw is working in cooperation with the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Iraqi government, and has been able to build an effective system of assistance. “Full support was offered to all Iraqi evacuees from Ukraine,” he said, adding that this included temporary accommodation in Poland.
According to Sahaf, however, as of Tuesday only one thousand Iraqi citizens have safely left Ukraine.
No time for sitting idle
Kubiak stressed his country’s firm support for the Ukrainian nation and its military, saying that “Poland will support the Ukrainians with whatever they need now the most, including military hardware.”
“There are hundreds of civilian casualties, among them many children, indiscriminate shelling of cities, sabotaging civilian infrastructures and - last but not least - the surging wave of refugees,” he added, explaining how they contribute to the urgent need for action. “There is no time for sitting idle when our Ukrainian brothers are being killed.” The UNHCR estimates that up to 4 million Ukrainians may flee their country.
“By helping Ukraine we do not intend to prolong the war,” he added. “We want it to stop immediately, we are horrified by the news of so many fallen young Russian soldiers. It is impossible to put the blame for the war on 18-years old conscripts. The Ukrainian envoy to the UN has made public some text messages a young Russian soldier sent to his parents, shortly before getting killed in action. This is more than heartbreaking. This war is a huge tragedy also for thousands of Russian mothers and fathers.”
“This war is really about what kind of world order and what sort of international relations we want and we are going to have in the coming decades,” the ambassador continued. “Whether it will be a world based on the respect of law or rather a world where the basic rules of international order may be trampled by military power. President Putin's war on Ukraine is an attempt to impose the second option, which would be disastrous for all the world.”
“All countries, including Iraq, should see this unlawful, unprovoked and unnecessary aggression as a threat to their vital interests and their security. This is why all countries truly interested in creating a sustainable, cooperative, multipolar world order should stand up against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.”
The influx of refugees from Ukraine is considered the largest in Europe since the Second World War and, in a noticeable shift from the end of last year when border guards were turning migrants away at the border, Poland seems ready and willing to cope.
“Since the war in Ukraine began, the Polish Border Guard has reinforced the staffing of border crossings… Border Guard officers check travellers, conduct inspections, confirm the identity of people entering Poland, guard the security of the so-called ‘green border’, and provide information to people fleeing Ukraine to escape the war.”
“Each person arriving from Ukraine is also given a special leaflet,” he said, which contains basic information for the new arrivals in four languages: Ukrainian, Polish, Russian and English.
Current statistics on crossing the Polish-Ukrainian border are provided on the Border Guard's Twitter profile.
The more the brutal war continues, with Russian indiscriminate attacks against Ukrainian cities and civilian infrastructure, the worse the humanitarian situation will become. If an immediate ceasefire is not agreed upon soon, many fear, the number of people fleeing the war may even exceed 5 million.
About 9,000 US troops are positioned on the Polish border with Ukraine, 100 meters from the Ukrainian border. Late on Tuesday night it was confirmed that Poland will provide Ukraine with all of its MIG-29 fighter jets, by making them available to the United States for free and without delay.
In a statement, Poland's foreign ministry said, "The authorities of the Republic of Poland, after consultations between the president and the government, are ready to deploy - immediately and free of charge - all their MIG-29 jets to the Rammstein Air Base and place them at the disposal of the government of the United States of America.”
“We are primarily thinking about the security of Ukraine and stopping this terrible war,” the ambassador concluded.
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