Rights group warns Poland about safety of Ukrainian refugees, especially women

Rights group warns Poland about safety of Ukrainian refugees, especially women
April 30, 2022, 7:47 am

Children sit in a refugee centre in Nadarzyn, near Warsaw on 25 March 2022. (Photo: Petr David Josek/The Associated Press)

The Euronews reported, Poland must "urgently" strengthen its prevention and surveillance measures to protect Ukrainian refugees on its soil, particularly women, victims of trafficking, violence and rape.

That's the warning from Human Rights Watch, which released a new report on Friday about the situation.

The organisation highlights "insufficient and inconsistent" measures to control private accommodation or transport in vehicles offered to refugees who have arrived from Ukraine in their hundreds of thousands to neighbouring Poland.

HRW says the lack of checks can "increase the risks of trafficking, exploitation and gender-based violence."

The new report included testimonies from women about what happened to them since they arrived in Poland.

Russian Invasion of Ukraine-The battle for Donbas (Photo: Euromaidan Press)

Hillary Margolis, senior women’s rights researcher at Human Rights Watch, said: “Poland’s acceptance of those fleeing the war in Ukraine is a positive shift from its response to other crises, but the lack of basic protection measures risks exposing refugees to serious abuse.”

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She said: “Abdicating this role to volunteers and activists puts the burden of refugees’ safety on well-meaning but mostly untrained people without the needed systems or support.”

The new Human Rights Watch report found inconsistent protection measures in place and a lack of government coordination which amplify the risks of abuse, especially for women and girls.

Inconsistent checks are done on people who volunteered accommodation for Ukrainian refugees, with officials in Warsaw too overwhelmed with thousands of apartments to visit.

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HRW's Hillary Margolis said: “The longer refugees from Ukraine remain in Poland with diminishing r-esources, especially women and girls, the greater the risk they will be forced into exploitative or abusive situations."

“Poland’s government should embrace its responsibility for the safety and security of people fleeing war in Ukraine, and take action now to make housing, transportation, and employment as safe as possible.”

Source: euronews

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