One week after Russia invaded Ukraine, one million people have fled the country.

According to the United Nations, at least one million people have fled Ukraine in the week since Russia’s invasion, with one official warning that the exodus might become “the largest refugee crisis this century” if it continues at its current pace. 

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reported on Thursday that 2% of Ukraine’s population, estimated by the World Bank to be 44 million at the end of 2020, had crossed borders in just seven days. 

The organization warned that the outflows were far from over: it estimated that up to 4 million people might leave Ukraine by the end of the year, and even that estimate could be revised upward. 

Based on tallies collected by national authorities, UNHCR spokesperson Joung-ah Ghedini-Williams told the Associated Press news agency in an email that “our data suggest we passed the 1 million thresholds” as of midnight in central Europe. 

According to a UN official, the speed with which Ukrainians are fleeing the country could lead to the “largest refugee catastrophe this century.” 

Refugees from Ukraine to neighboring nations, UN High Commissioner Filippo Grandi posted on Twitter. 

“For many more millions inside Ukraine, it’s time for weapons to fall silent so that life-saving humanitarian aid may be supplied,”

he continued. 

Grandi’s comments came as the sound of artillery fire, exploding mortar shells, and gunfire echoed across the country, attesting to the desperation of civilians in Ukraine, as well as UN agencies like the World Health Organization Health vs education: Closure of schools due to covid impact on children  and the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs’ growing concern about a humanitarian disaster. 

The daily data show the evacuation is moving at breakneck speed. 

According to the latest UNHCR tally, after more than 82,000 individuals departed on the first day of the Russian invasion on February 24, each subsequent day resulted in at least 117,000 more refugees, with a peak of nearly 200,000 on Tuesday alone. 

As stated by the UNHCR data, Syria, whose civil conflict began in 2011 and continues to be the country with the most significant refugee outflows, has nearly 5.7 million people fleeing. Even at the fastest migration rate in early 2013, 1 million Syrian refugees needed at least three months to flee the country. 

Hundreds of thousands of Syrian and other refugees came to Europe in 2015, mainly from Turkey, causing confusion in the European Union about how to respond and, at times, fights and pushbacks at national borders. 

So far, UN officials and others have applauded Ukraine’s neighbors, who have opened homes, gymnasiums, and other facilities to accommodate the incoming refugees. 

Per the UNHCR spokesman Shabia Mantoo, Ukraine might become the source of “the worst refugee crisis this century” if outflows continue at their current pace. 

According to UN estimates, over half of those fleeing Ukraine travelled to Poland, with over 116,000 going to Hungary to the south. More than 79,000 people have arrived in Moldova, with 71,200 heading to Slovakia. 

Edited By- Subbuthai Padma

Published By- Satheesh Kumar