Ukraine internal displacement nears 1 million as fighting escalates in Donetsk region
Ukraine puts the number of registered IDPs at 980,000. Also, 600,000 Ukrainians have sought asylum or other forms of legal stay in neighbouring countries.
KYIV, Ukraine, February 6 (UNHCR) - The UN refugee agency reported on Friday that fighting in eastern Ukraine's Donetsk region is creating new displacement and pushing the number of registered internally displaced people (IDP) close to the 1 million mark.
Ukraine's Ministry of Social Policy puts the number of registered IDPs countrywide at 980,000 - a figure that is expected to rise as more newly uprooted people are being registered. In addition, some 600,000 Ukrainians have sought asylum or other forms of legal stay in neighbouring countries, particularly the Russian Federation, but also Belarus, Moldova, Poland, Hungary and Romania, since February 2014.
Spokesman Adrian Edwards told journalists in Geneva that UNHCR teams were reporting that heavy fighting in the Donetsk region over the last two weeks has resulted in massive destruction of buildings and infrastructure and in the collapse of basic services.
"Local authorities have begun to evacuate people from conflict areas, but many are still trapped by the fighting, including in basements and buildings under constant bombardment. The evacuations are being organized by the government helped by local volunteers," he said.
More than 2,800 civilians, including about 700 children and 60 people living with disability, have been evacuated from the towns of Debaltseve, Avdiivka and Svitlodar, which have seen fierce combat. Several incidents of shelling of buses carrying the evacuees have been reported.
The Ukrainian government has said it is concerned that areas close to the frontline, which are also under heavy shelling, will not be able to accommodate the new arrivals. Therefore, people will have to be moved further away to central, southern and western parts of the country.
Evacuees are being taken to government-controlled towns to the north of Donetsk such as Slovyansk, Sviatohirsk, Kramatorsk and Grodivka, as well as to the nearby Kharkiv region. They are being transported in cars and buses and, in the case of the most vulnerable, by train. Some evacuees are temporarily accommodated in train carriages at the railway station in Slovyansk, awaiting onwards transportation.
Apart from the organized evacuations, civilians continue to flee the conflict areas by their own means, facing numerous dangers along the way. "As more homes and other civilian infrastructure is damaged or destroyed, UNHCR expects more people to be displaced to areas in central, southern and western Ukraine under the control of the Ukrainian government, but also to non-government controlled areas in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions," Edwards said.
Our teams on the ground report that many of the recently displaced are arriving with very few belongings and without proper winter clothes. To address the most urgent needs, UNHCR, through local NGO networks, has started to distribute relief items in northern areas of the Donetsk region, the main place of arrival of IDPs from the conflict areas. Some 2,000 of the most vulnerable new arrivals received blankets, sleeping bags, bed linen, warm clothes and jerry cans.
Additionally, some 1,600 newly arrived IDPs from Debaltsevo and Vuhlehirsk have been assisted by UNHCR partners in conflict-affected areas which are not controlled by the government.
The lack of access to public services previously provided by the central authorities has drastically worsened the plight of the civilian population in areas not under government control. This has been further aggravated by restrictions to the movement of people and goods. The surge in fighting has further limited the supply of urgently needed goods in the conflict areas.
"UNHCR maintains its call on all parties to the conflict to refrain from any actions that might endanger the life of civilians and to adhere to the principles of international humanitarian law," Edwards stressed.
By Nina Sorokopud in Kyiv, Ukraine
Related news and stories
Ukraine's refugees find long-term support in Europe's host countries
Women-run businesses in Afghanistan dealt a blow by deepening restrictions
After conflict, the displaced of Central African Republic dream of going home
Across borders, South Sudan's displaced call for peace
Six faces of the forcibly displaced in Ukraine
UNHCR: Funding gap of US$295m in Yemen jeopardizes life-saving humanitarian aid
Your search for « donetsk » matched 110 results. Displaying page 2 of 13 pages.
-
Number of displaced inside Ukraine more than doubles since early August to 260,000
2 Sep 2014 ... in eastern Ukraine, in particular around Donetsk, Luhansk and neighbouring towns, is driving ... Most of the displaced - 94 per cent - are from eastern Ukraine and are remaining in the Donetsk, ...... -
Ukraine: Underground Siege
10 Mar 2015 ... The shelling in Ukraine has driven 1,000 Donetsk residents underground. Afraid to venture outside, they still maintain a spirit of generosity.... -
Divided by conflict line, Ukrainian families struggle
11 Aug 2017 ... Valentina, 70, can barely walk with a stick. Her husband Gennadiy grasps her hand tightly to help, but he too has difficulties walking. Together, like thousands of other Ukrainians, they must cross a ...... -
The underground siege
9 Mar 2015 ... There are at least 1,000 of them in and around Donetsk, huddling below ground to avoid the shells ... Siege: Katia, 76, now sleeps upon an old bathtub in the basement of her apartment block in Donetsk. ...... -
Shelling forces Ukrainian family to move from house to house
29 Apr 2018 ... In eastern Ukraine's forgotten conflict, a mother clings to hopes of peace Close to the front line of the conflict in Donetsk, eastern Ukraine, mother of three Marina Baban has been forced to move ...... -
Life is a daily battle for families in Ukraine conflict zone
27 Mar 2018 ... Ukraine: Cut off on the Donetsk conflict line It was just an ordinary day for Liuba and her son ... Sasha and his wife Yulia from Donetsk often cross the Mariinka checkpoint to help out his elderly ...... -
UNHCR calls for unimpeded access in eastern Ukraine; concerns over government resolutions worsening plight of displaced
23 Jan 2015 ... These restrictions on movements within Donetsk and Luhansk regions in the east of the country ... UNHCR established a presence in Donetsk in late December as a part of a wider United Nations ...... -
UNHCR calls for unimpeded access in eastern Ukraine
23 Jan 2015 ... "These restrictions on movements within the Donetsk and Luhansk regions in the east of the country ... UNHCR established a presence in Donetsk in late December as a part of a wider United Nations ...... -
Ukraine Operational Update
22 Apr 2016 ... is the only functional institution of its kind in the government controlled area of Donetsk region. ... Fighting remains concentrated on the line of contact in Donetsk region between Avdiivka and ......