Half of Ukrainian refugee children suffer from anxiety and fear for their future

November 14 () –

Half of the Ukrainian children who have been forced to leave their country by the Russian military offensive suffer from anxiety or are worried about what the future may hold for them, according to a report by the NGO Save the Children, which calls on the international community to take these mental health needs into account.

The study, which has been prepared from more than a thousand interviews in eight European countries –Finland, Italy, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania and Sweden–, shows the urgency of a particularly vulnerable group: the 7.7 million people who have left Ukraine, 40 percent are minors.

Half of those interviewed feel more anxious since they fled Ukraine, although if only those over 16 years of age are examined, the data rises to 78 percent. 57 percent believe that their situation would improve with friends, 56 percent if they could practice a hobby and 54 percent if they learned the local language.

“I feel a bit uncomfortable here. I don’t have my friends or my classmates. Most people my age don’t speak English, so I can’t communicate with them,” says Ana, 15, in statements released by the organization.

Save the Children has warned that school enrollment rates remain “worryingly low”, even though refugees who go to school are less likely to feel alone. A quarter of the children had no plans to enroll in a local school, which for the director of the NGO in Europe, Ylva Sperling, partly overshadows the “warm welcome” offered to Ukrainian families.

In Poland, for example, the report finds that only 41 percent of Ukrainian children are enrolled in local schools. The Ukrainian authorities maintain an online learning system open from which those who have been forced to leave the country can also benefit.

Andriy, 13, says he went to a school in Lithuania for two weeks, “but there weren’t many teachers who knew how to speak Russian.” He opted to return to online classes from Ukraine, while he regrets that he would like to have more Lithuanian friends.