I participated yesterday in @cepa event on Ukrainian refugees and internally displaced people and I want to share here some of my thoughts on this. Since I am in Ukraine, in its Western part, I will focus on IDPs

The UN says there are 4 million Ukrainian refugees and 6,5 mln IDPs. While it's easier to count refugees because they cross the border, the exact number of IDPs is more difficult to establish because not all of them register. There real number might be double

While there are some IDPs who fled from Eastern/Southern/Northern Ukraine or Kyiv to central regions, the biggest part headed further West, to Lviv, Volyn, Ivano-Frankivsk, Ternopil, Chernivtsi and Zakarpattia regions

Lviv region has the biggest number of IDPs, it officially registered 500k people. Lviv is also the biggest and the richest region of Western Ukraine. Other parts are worse off. From the economic point of view, the West of Ukraine has been poorer than other parts of the country

The infrastructure in Western Ukraine is struggling to cope with huge numbers of people who arrived from all over Ukraine. The biggest problem is accomodation: there is simply not enough of it. People who arrived in the first weeks of war quickly took the spaces available

As more and more people who lived through the true horrors of war - from Mariupol and other places - arrive in recent weeks, it's difficult for them to find decent living conditions. I heard stories about 12 people crammed in the same room, from different families, young and old

Local authorities are doing what they can: placing IDPs at schools and gyms. In remote depopulated villages, IDPs are offered accomodation in empty houses whose residents emigrated abroad or moved to urban areas. These houses sometimes lack sewage facilities and are very basic

While locals in Western Ukraine usually welcome IDPs (my aunt in a village brought bags of food to newly arrived settlers), they also complain that rent prices skyrocketed. Some landlords take advantage of the situation and kick locals out to let for more money to wealthy IDPs

The majority of IDPs hope they will return to their regions of Ukraine soon, that's why many of them are reluctant to go abroad. Many of them lost their jobs. The government pays each registered IDP 2000 uah a month, 3000 for a child (less than 100$). There's help from the UN too

But this is clearly not enough if one has lost a source of income: and according to Ukrainian stats, more than 50% of Ukrainians lost a job due to war. Many people are in unfamiliar places, without money and long-term accomodation

That's why some people are already choosing to return to their cities and villages, even if they are not safe. Older people do it more often than others. I hear multiple stories of people returning to Kharkiv, which is still under Russian strikes. People return to Kyiv too

As the war drags on, the situation with IDPs exacerbates. If - rather when - Russia launches an assault on Donbas, many more will come. Long-term strategy and support of other countries is needed. Western regions of Ukraine need help with providing accomodation and jobs to IDPs

Another issue is education for children. At least half of Ukrainian kids left their homes, millions of them who stay in the country don't have access to offline education. Schools are trying to provide classes online but kids needs socializing

Local authorities and international volunteers try to organize activities for children and create spaces for playing, but here a long-term strategy is needed too. Here are some pics from improvised kids' locations in one of Western Ukrainian towns

Many Ukrainian IDPs live in a limbo, without any plans. They hope to return soon. But if that's not possible, if the war goes on and the problems I mentioned are not addressed, many either will flee abroad with long-term plans, or will return home, even if it's not safe.
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