In the midst of the ongoing humanitarian crisis with the wave of Ukrainian refugees fleeing to the West, the Polish population is showing great openness. 

A recent survey conducted by IBRiS reveals that 90% of Poles are willing to accept Ukrainians on Polish soil, while 64% of Poles announced they were willing to help the refugees personally. 

Poland has been the primary destination to which Ukrainian refugees have been fleeing since the outbreak of the war last Thursday. As of the 2nd of March in the afternoon, the total number of Ukrainians that crossed the Polish border is estimated by the National Guard (Straż Graniczna) to have already exceeded 460.000 people. 

Since the escalation of the conflict in the middle of last week, Poland not only created reception points at the border but also provided transport and accommodation to the newcomers. A special website has even been launched in order to coordinate the many initiatives of help proposed by numerous volunteers

Hundreds of tonnes of goods have already been collected. Local authorities in the city of Kraków even had to ask people to temporarily refrain from bringing donations because the warehouses were full.

Online, over 400,000 people have joined a Polish Facebook group called “Help for Ukraine”. Numerous such local groups have been set up across the country in order to coordinate humanitarian support.

Image: Twitter (Straz_Graniczna)

Author: Sébastien Meuwissen