The European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex) has announced that since the war started in late February, over 6.3 million refugees have entered the EU from Ukraine and Moldova.
In a statement issued on Thursday, May 19, Frontex also stressed that the most affected border section continues to be Polish and Romanian, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.
“More than 3.4 million refugees arrived in Poland. Passenger flows of Ukrainian citizens to EU Member states remain manageable with an average of 32,000 crossings a day,” the statement reads.
Frontex also noted that it is continuing to monitor an increasing number of people entering Ukraine.
According to Frontex, since the start of the war, two million people have entered the country, including more than a million Ukrainians.
Meanwhile, in the last ten days, about 32,000 Ukrainians left the Member States every day to go back to Ukraine.
Data provided by Frontex have also revealed that 18 per cent of the country’s population is displaced within the territory of Ukraine.
“The continuation of the war exacerbates international migration push factors and raises security concerns, highlighting the need for security checks and registrations. Frontex continues monitoring refugee flows to facilitate border crossings and support evacuation corridors,” the statement explains.
Frontex is already trained with about 364 officers at the EU-Ukraine border and more than 519 officers. It also has staff along the EU’s eastern land border to support national authorities with border control.
At the same time, Frontex has so far supported the organisation of 20 humanitarian return flights assisting 739 third-country citizens fleeing the war in Ukraine to return home. These flights were operated from Poland to Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan in cooperation with the respective embassies.
The war in Ukraine has also raised many concerns about human trafficking and arms smuggling.
In this regard, the Executive Director of the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, Frontex, Fabrice Leggeri, said that the complete occupation of Ukraine by Russia has created a new geopolitical situation that affected the borders of neighbouring countries, including Hungary, Poland, Romania, Poland, Slovakia, and Moldova.
Frontex has shown strong support for the Moldovan territory by sending 73 officers to help the Moldovan authorities in dealing with the large influx of Ukrainian arrivals.
In addition, Frontex has assisted Romania in managing the border situation caused by the large number of people fleeing the war, thus sending over 150 officers to the Romanian border with 45 patrol cars and other equipment.
A total of 466,406 Ukrainian refugees have been registered in Moldova since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, according to United Nations data.
Such data also show that neighbouring countries that have opened their doors welcoming mostly Ukrainian refugees are as follows:
- Poland with (3,418,077)
- Romania with (937,082)
- Hungary with (620,846)
- Slovakia with (429,705)
SOURCE: Schengen Visa Info
