War in Ukraine: more than 14,000 people displaced in the Kharkiv region "in a few days"according to the WHO
More than 14,000 people have been displaced “in a few days” because of the fighting in the Kharkiv region, in eastern Ukraine, where Moscow launched a new major assault on May 10, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced on Tuesday, May 21. “Nearly 189,000 others still live within 25 kilometers of the border with the Russian Federation, facing significant risks due to ongoing fighting”also declared the WHO representative in Ukraine, Jarno Habicht, during a press briefing in Geneva.
He clarified that these were the figures that the WHO had after speaking with local authorities. Jarno Habicht also pointed out that some of these people had gone to Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city, while others had gone elsewhere.
According to the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), Ukrainian authorities have evacuated more than 10,300 people from villages in the border areas of the Kharkiv region, while others left on their own . The vast majority of them registered at a transit center in Kharkiv and “expressed a clear wish to stay” in the city, “to be able to return when the situation allows”, explained a spokesperson, Shabia Mantoo.
The UNHCR said on Tuesday it was “extremely concerned” by “the increase in humanitarian needs and [par le nombre] forced displacement” following the Russian offensive. The UN agency fears in particular that “Conditions in Kharkiv, which already hosts some 200,000 internally displaced people, will become even more difficult if the ground offensive and relentless air attacks continue,” said Shabia Mantoo.
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