Photo: Gonzalo Höhr for Action Against Hunger, Moldova
More than three million people have already fled the conflict in Ukraine, and more are arriving each day seeking safety and assistance in neighbouring Moldova, Romania, and Poland. Action Against Hunger is now working to support refugees in border towns in Moldova while laying plans for longer term support for those who have been affected by the conflict.
“We are seeing that the conditions of people arriving are worsening. The first people who fled Ukraine had some resources already. Now, those arriving are mothers with children and elderly people without resources. They fled with just the clothes on their backs,” says Olivier Longué, Executive Director of Action Against Hunger in Spain, who visited Ukraine and Moldova with the organization’s emergency teams this week. Many refugees are coming from Nikolayev, a city near Odessa. There have been no reports to date of attacks in central Odessa, but if that situation changed, it would intensify the humanitarian crisis at the Moldovan border.
“There are refugees who are hopeful that everything will end soon, and they will be able to return to their homes. Many refugees with special needs or orphans are now in a safe place will stay in Moldova. For everyone, the help they receive from humanitarian organizations is key,” says Longué. Action Against Hunger is working closely with refugee organizations in the region to provide crucial support to Ukrainian families.
In Moldova, Ukrainian families are temporarily residing in refugee reception centres. Action Against Hunger, in collaboration with organizations such as Concordia, is providing food, cleaning kits, diapers, wet wipes, and baby formula.
Action Against Hunger is serving hot meals to Ukrainian refugees in the border town of Palanca, and our teams will expand these efforts further as we set up mobile industrial kitchens. Many refugees depend on these meals and say they plan to return home as soon as it is safe for their children. “We never considered leaving, that’s why we want to return as soon as possible. We want peace,” one refugee told our team.
At the Palanca Refugee Reception Centre, our teams installed heaters and electrical outlets to give refugees a place to warm up and charge their mobile phones. Action Against Hunger is also distributing hand sanitizer, toilet paper, and trash bins to refugees. We will install latrines, bio-organic toilets, and showers for people with special needs in the days ahead.
Staff and volunteers distribute hot meals and drinks to Ukrainian refugees. Photo: Gonzalo Höhr for Action Against Hunger, Moldova
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