Poland to take in 2,000 Ukrainian orphans

Foreigners wait to go to Poland at the Shegyni Ukrainian border post on March 01, 2022. AFP

WARSAW — Catholic charity Caritas Poland said it will take in 2,000 children from Ukrainian orphanages, with the first group of 300 arriving on Wednesday.

“Our eastern neighbors are talking about a humanitarian catastrophe that is approaching fast,” Caritas Poland director Marcin Izycki told PAP.

“We have decided to respond to the crisis in Ukraine and provide shelter to the most vulnerable in our country,” he said on Tuesday.

The children will come mainly from orphanages in eastern Ukraine, which has been worst affected by Russia’s assault on the country.

The first group will be taken to Opole and Czestochowa in southern Poland and put up in charity centres and religious institutions.

More than 660,000 people have fled Ukraine since Russia began its invasion last Thursday and a million more are estimated to be displaced within the country.

The UN has warned of a humanitarian crisis and has called for $1.7 billion in urgent aid, estimating that some 12 million people will need support in Ukraine.

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