Central Europe – As Russia’s war in Ukraine entered its fourth week, more than three million Ukrainians, mostly women and children, had taken refuge in neighbouring countries as of 15 March, according to figures from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
More than three million Ukrainian refugees already in Central Europe
On Wednesday, 16 March, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán embarked on a three-day visit to the Ukrainian border.
“According to the information we have this Wednesday morning, 429,000 refugees have already arrived in Hungary.”
he said. “And the war is not abating, it is spreading, and as it spreads there is a danger that even more people will come to Hungary next week, and that poses a huge challenge for us (…) they are now fleeing not only [out of fear of] the war but also from the war itself.
We are proud that Hungary has so far been able to provide for all refugees.”
The number of Ukrainian refugees is increasing dramatically day by day
According to the UNHCR, as of 15 March Poland had already taken in 1,857,045 Ukrainian refugees, Romania 467,703, Moldova 344,454, Hungary 272,943, Slovakia 220,977, Russia 155,841, and Belarus 1,816. The difference between the Hungarian government’s figures (429,000 as of 16 March) and those of the UNHCR (272,943 as of 15 March), a 57% discrepancy, is probably due to the count being carried out locally before it is sent to the UNHCR, and it reflects the stunning pace at which the number of refugees has been increasing in a matter of only days. The most up-to-date figures are certainly even higher, and it should be noted that these figures do not include those who have arrived in the Czech Republic (270,000 as of 15 March), Austria (30,000 as of 14 March) or Germany (147,000 as of 14 March).
