Currently there are between 3 and 3.5 million Ukrainians living in Poland. More than half arrived as a result of the current war. It is the OECD country that is providing the most money for the maintenance of refugees, with numerous measures to facilitate their inclusion.
On February 24, 2022, Russian soldiers entered Ukrainian territory and began the largest war on European soil since World War II. According to UN figures, nearly 14 million people have been forced from their homes and almost 8 million have fled the country. These are mainly women, children and the elderly.
As during World War II, Russia has initiated deportations to Siberia, and in captured villages has tortured elites and soldiers, raping women and committing genocide. Millions of women have fled the horrors of Russian service operations. Eighty years ago, one of them was my grandmother, who decided to settle in Poland with her sister instead of going back to the Ukraine ruled by barbarians. The war in Ukraine is, for me and for many Poles, not just an act of aggression against a neighbor, but really against us.
Since the beginning of the Russian aggression, more than 7.4 million refugees from Ukraine have crossed the Polish-Ukrainian border, but at the same time about 5.6 million have crossed the border into Ukraine, which means that about 1, 5-2 million refugees remain in Poland. Including the previous wave of emigration from Ukraine, which started after the Donbass war in 2014, there are approximately 3 to 3.5 million Ukrainians living in Poland.
The spontaneous uprising in Polish society has exceeded all expectations. 70% of adult Poles are involved in helping refugees and up to 7% have offered rooms or even entire flats. This means that several hundred thousand families live in homes and not in camps, as is often the case in crises of this type.
In addition, 59% of Poles have participated in the purchase of essential items and 53% have donated money to refugees. According to a study by the Polish Economic Institute, a total of up to 2 billion euros has been allocated to support Ukrainians fleeing the war in the first three months.
Economic benefits, health and education
Thanks to changes in Polish legislation, Ukrainians can get a PESEL identification number, just like any Polish citizen. Thus, they can legally reside in Poland for 18 months. They have the right to create a trust profile, that is, a digital identity, and are eligible for various social benefits, including the universal family allowance, which amounts to about 120 euros per child.
The wave of refugees after the outbreak of the war has been made up mainly of women. More than 60% of them have come with their children, so first of all they look for places for them in schools and nurseries, and only then can they dedicate themselves to looking for a job.
Ukrainian refugees are entitled to family, upbringing, school start or care benefits of up to 2,600 euros. To care for children, municipalities have opened additional nurseries with simplified regulations, and many public institutions have been converted into temporary night shelters. In addition, free psychological assistance, food aid and access to medical care have been provided to Ukrainians fleeing the war.
Thanks to the experience of distance learning, schools were able to reorganize themselves quite quickly to accommodate 200,000 Ukrainian students (in Warsaw alone there are about 20,000). Teacher recruitment rules have also been liberalized to facilitate the entry of Ukrainian-speaking teachers.
Facilitate employment for Ukrainians
Poland has also liberalized its regulations on the employment of Ukrainians. It is enough for the employer, in case of employing people from Ukraine, to notify the competent labor office within 7 days. More than 450,000 people have started working in this way – there are about 600,000 Ukrainian refugees of working age registered in Poland, which means that about 60% of these people are employed. They can also undertake and carry out business activities in our country under the same conditions as Polish citizens. Ukrainians have already created more than 10,000 companies, which means that they account for almost one in ten new registered companies.
“About 60% of Ukrainian refugees in Poland have started working”
This also happens in reverse. It is an unprecedented fact that Poles, like Ukrainians, can work freely in Ukraine. This will be very useful when the process of rebuilding Ukraine begins, even without a peace agreement.
The OECD estimates that the total expenditure of all OECD countries on the maintenance of war refugees from Ukraine in 2022 will amount to 26.8 billion euros. The largest burden falls on Poland, where spending will be 8.4 billion, followed by Germany (6.8 billion) and the Czech Republic (2 billion).
The solidarity of society in Poland is amazing. The Polish and Ukrainian peoples have always had much in common, although our shared history has also been painful at times. Many Poles could cite family stories similar to mine, or have memories of the crimes committed by Ukrainian radicals against Poles during World War II in Volhynia. Today, however, this is all in the past and it is clear that we are helping our neighbors in their time of need. And we will continue to do so until they can safely return home.
