Xinhua News Agency
August 5, 2014
Number of displaced surges due to Ukraine conflict: UNHCR
GENEVA: The deteriorating situation in eastern Ukraine has led to surging numbers of internally-displaced people (IDPs), the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said Tuesday.
Addressing a press conference upon his return from Ukraine, UNHCR’s Europe Bureau director Vincent Cochetel said the number of IDPs in the country reached an estimated 117,000 and was increasing by 1,200 people per day in recent weeks.
Among the total displaced population, up to 87 percent were from eastern Ukraine, mainly from Luhansk and Donetsk regions. UNHCR data showed IDPs from the two regions had risen sharply from 2,600 in early June to 102,600 in early August.
The UN refugee agency called on the Ukrainian government to establish a central registration system of IDPs.
Cochetel emphasized the current lack of a uniform system hampered relief efforts, adding that it was important for Ukrainian authorities to prepare for winter since most of the current shelters were not suitable for the colder months.
UNHCR estimates as additional 730,000 Ukrainians have crossed the border into Russia since the beginning of the conflict.
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Xinhua News Agency
August 5, 2014
UN says 285,000 displaced in Ukraine crisis
KIEV: Almost 285,000 people have fled Ukraine’s restive areas as of early August, up 55,000 from the number of mid-July, according to a UN report obtained here on Tuesday.
Among the affected population are people who have been displaced from southern Crimean peninsula, Lugansk and Donetsk regions in the eastern part of the country, according to the document released by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
Every day, around 1,000 people are leaving the conflict areas and 117,000 refugees have found shelters in calm Ukrainian regions since the turmoil in the eastern European country began in February, it said.
Meanwhile, about 168,000 asylum seekers had crossed the border into Russia and requested to obtain refugee status there, the report said.
According to another UN report, at least 1,129 people have been killed and 3,442 others wounded in the Ukraine crisis as of July 26.
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