Children in shock, women crying after leaving behind husbands, fathers and brothers, elderly people suffering from the long journey, cross the Polish-Ukrainian border to escape the war in their country, Ukraine. Two Greeks, with great experience in humanitarian missions, Christina Psarra from Doctors Without Borders and Apostolos Veizis from Intersos Hellas, speak to APE-MPE from Poland, where they are, for the refugees, the great solidarity that develops in the region , but also the needs that exist.
The children arriving at the reception center in the area of ​​Kortsova, an old shopping center, are in a state of shock, explains Apostolos Veizis, general manager of the non-governmental organization Intersos Hellas. “They have a lost look, many of them do not even speak, they do not respond,” he says characteristically. “They are children who lived through bombings, lived in basements, left their dad behind and traveled for several days without access to water and proper food,” he told APE-BPE, adding that these children would need psychological support for some time. “We saw them today, but who will provide them with psychological support tomorrow?”
From the Przemysl region of Poland, where she is participating in the emergency services of Doctors Without Borders, the general director of the organization in Greece, Christina Psarra, describes the arrivals of the children and the moving images that unfold. “Too many children of all ages come with their families. The younger ones help their families with their toys, the older ones. They hug their dogs or cats. Most of them are suffering and as the days go by, they understand more and more what is happening. A five-year-old child was crying and his mother was telling him, let’s move on, below is the sea “.
At the same time many of the women do not stop crying. “They have left their husbands, fathers, brothers behind and they are afraid of what will happen to them. “Unfortunately, this is the war,” said Ms. Psarra.
Moving in temperatures close to zero, snow and a lot of humidity, the refugees arriving in Poland have faced hardships due to the trip. “There are people with chronic health problems, heart problems, diabetes, asthma, who have been unattended lately,” Mr. Veizis told APE-MPE, adding that “their post-traumatic stress is terrible.”
Ms. Psarra points out that the refugees “have the trauma of war and suffering, because the queues at the border and their waiting time to cross are very long. They come exhausted and tired. “We do not see many people with medical issues, but more and more distressed people are coming.”
The refugees stop briefly at reception centers set up near the border and then try to connect with relatives and friends in Poland and other European countries. Apostolos Veizis expresses the fear that in their course they will face great difficulties, “because in Europe there is no mechanism for their support that thinks the next day”. After all, as he characteristically says, “in this mechanism that is currently supported by volunteers, governments must always have a place.”
The activation of the Poles is great. Christina Psarra characterizes the existing wave of solidarity as “impressive”. “The solidarity I see here is what we need, what needs to be maintained,” he added. Apostolos Veizis expresses concern that “when things go to calm down a bit, this solidarity will fade. “Volunteering is the best part that one can help with, but it must be framed immediately by a state mechanism.”
At the same time, however, both refer to cases of discrimination against third-country nationals living in Ukraine. “Intersos has recorded hundreds of cases of third-country nationals being discriminated against in their attempt to cross the border into Ukraine to escape the war, but also in Poland,” Mr Veizis said. Ms. Psarra adds that Médecins Sans Frontières is closely monitoring the situation, while also conveying the image that third-country nationals “are the ones who start to stay behind in the reception centers as they do not know where to move”.
We ask them how citizens can help refugees. The director of Intersos Hellas sends the message that the best way to help the refugees at the moment is to provide financial support to the organizations that are already in the field, as the collection and transport of humanitarian material is time consuming and costly. In addition, he called for the 44 million people left behind in Ukraine not to be forgotten.
Christina Psarra answers that “people can help by opening their homes. To open their homes and understand what is happening with this war next to us because no one wins. “The losers are the people we see in front of us these days.”
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