Beirut: Lebanon’s General Security Directorate has resumed its registration service for Syrian refugees willing to return to their homeland.
The directorate resumed the operation of a registration centre in Arsal, a town in northern Bekaa Region, after suspending its operations on October 6 of last year due to logistical reasons, Xinhua news agency reported.
Around 50 Syrian families who wish to return to their villages in Western Qalamoun mountains and Al Qusayr registered their names on Wednesday, it added.
The Directorate said it would continue to provide the service at the centre three days a week.
Lebanese authorities have repeatedly called on the international community to assist the country in returning Syrian refugees to their homeland as it suffers from a dire financial crisis and can no longer host many displaced people on its territories.
According to the UN Refugee Agency, Lebanon is currently facing its worst socioeconomic crisis in decades and hosts the highest number of refugees per capita and per square kilometre worldwide.
The government estimates 1.5 million Syrian refugees and 13,715 refugees of other nationalities.
Ninety per cent of Syrian refugees are living in extreme poverty, with the majority of them settled in the Bekaa region.
While prices are skyrocketing due to a severe economic crisis, almost half of the Lebanese and 2/3 of the 1.5 million Syrian refugees are food insecure.
Some 90 per cent of Syrians, 73 per cent of Palestinian refugees, and over 50 per cent of Lebanese households currently need assistance.
Lebanon has struggled to deal with emergencies like the Beirut port blast, Covid-19, and a cholera outbreak earlier this year.
Jammu, May 1 (GNS): Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha inaugurated the Special Governance Camp for West Pakistani Refugee families, today at Chakroi, RS Pura.
Addressing a large gathering, the Lt Governor said the special Governance Camp aims to resolve grievances, verification of pending cases, awareness about various welfare & self employment schemes and placement drive with focus on eligible candidates from displaced families.
“Article 370 & 35A had denied political rights & other benefits to West Pakistani Refugee families & prevented their scope of progression and upward mobility. Prime Minister Narendra Modi provided them the rights enjoyed by other citizens of the country and they are no longer treated as refugees,” the Lt Governor said.
The Lt Governor shared the UT Administration’s resolve to extend the benefits of government schemes to their families.
“The Government is working with dedication & commitment to realise the dreams of the community. It is a fresh dawn, which offers the people limitless possibilities and a new hope to the youth. We will ensure they become architects of J&K’s strong and prosperous tomorrow,” added the Lt Governor.
The Lt Governor also reiterated the government commitment to work for the larger interest of the displaced families
“Governance camp will act as an institutional structure to effectively resolve all the pending cases within a time frame and mitigate the problems of farmers. Our thrust will be on measures for economic & social development, social justice & equality,” observed the Lt Governor.
Ownership rights of lands to West Pakistani Refugees will be ensured by the UT administration on the directions of the Central Government, the Lt Governor added.
The Lt Governor further assured every possible support and assistance from the government to the youth of West Pakistani refugee families in their entrepreneurial & business ventures. He also said all the opportunities for skill development and sports will be provided to the youth.
Youth must come forward and avail the benefits of all schemes and programmes of Mission Youth, he added.
The Lt Governor distributed sanction letters to the beneficiaries of different Government Schemes. He also interacted with the representative of West Pakistan Refugees and assured appropriate redressal of their issues and demands.
The Camps for employment generation & grievance redressal will be organized at different districts till 10th May 2023. Earlier, the UT Administration has organized Special Governance Camps for Kashmiri Migrants and Displaced Persons of PoJK to ensure saturation of social security schemes, self-employment and skilling.
Bharat Bhushan, Chairperson DDC Jammu; Ramesh Kumar, Divisional Commissioner Jammu; Labba Ram Gandhi, President WPR Association; members of West Pakistani Refugee families, Senior Officers of administration were present on the occasion. (GNS)
SRINAGAR: Jammu and Kashmir’s Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha Monday said that West Pakistan Refugees (WPRs)were tied with the “chains of slavery and treated as the second class citizens for a long time but after reading down of article 370, refugees got all the rights that are enjoyed by the dignified citizens of country.
The LG said the administration led by him will ensure “ownership rights to WPRs very soon.”
“There is no denying the fact that WPRs were treated as second class citizens in J&K. You were kept in the chains of slavery for long and it took a long time to set you free from those chains,” the LG said after inaugurating the Special Governance Camp for WP refugee families at Chakroi, R S Pura, in Jammu.
Sinha said that first, the government started to resolve the issues of migrant Kashmiri Pandits, then Pakistan occupied JK displaced families and now WPRs.
“The camp aims to resolve the grievances of WP refugees and address the issues related to verification of pending cases and create awareness about various welfare and self-employment schemes besides placement drive with focus on eligible candidates,” the LG said, adding that “there is no fun of digging the past and focus has to be on future now.”
He said after Prime Minister Modi’s historic decision on August 5, 2019, disparity of decades ended and “You (WPRs) were entitled to participate in Assembly, Parliamentary, Panchayat and other elections. You have now proper rights and identity.”
The LG said that the administration is aware of the fact that land has been given to WP refugees but not the “ownership rights.” “We are working on the proposal to ensure that you get ownership rights as well within the shortest possible time,” he said, adding that “there is also a large chunk of people (WP refugees) who haven’t received proper compensation. That issue will also be addressed soon.”
Sinha said that WP refugees will get all the benefits of governance. “Your services to serve the nation are of great importance for us. Your children can get admission in any college, school or university,” he said. “Under the PM Modi’s vision, WPRs are no less than any other citizen of the country.”
Jammu, May 01: Jammu and Kashmir’s Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha Monday said that West Pakistan Refugees (WPRs) were tied with the “chains of slavery and treated as the second class citizens for a long time” but after August 5, 2019 historic decision of Prime Minister Narendera Modi, refugees were given all rights of a “dignified citizen of a country.” The LG said the administration led by him will ensure “ownership rights to WPRs very soon.”
“There is no denying the fact that WPRs were treated as second class citizens in J&K. You were kept in the chains of slavery for long and it took a long time to set you free from those chains,” the LG said after inaugurating the Special Governance Camp for WP refugee families at Chakroi, R S Pura, in Jammu, as per news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO).
He said that first, the government started to resolve the issues of migrant Kashmiri Pandits, then Pakistan occupied J&K displaced families and now WPRs. “The camp aims to resolve the grievances of WP refugees, address the issues related to verification of pending cases and create awareness about various welfare and self-employment schemes besides placement drive with focus on eligible candidates,” the LG said, adding that “there is no fun of digging the past and focus has to be on future now.”
He said after Prime Minister Narendera Modi’s historic decision on August 5, 2019, disparity of decades ended and “You (WPRs) were entitled to participate in Assembly, Parliamentary, Panchayat and other elections. You have now proper rights and identity.”
The LG said that the administration is aware of the fact that land has been given to WP refugees but not the “ownership rights.” “We are working on the proposal to ensure that you get ownership rights as well within the shortest possible time,” he said, adding that “there is also a large chunk of people (WP refugees) who haven’t received proper compensation. That issue will also be addressed soon.”
Sinha said that WP refugees will get all the benefits of governance. “Your services to serve the nation are of great importance for us. Your children can get admission in any college, school or university,” he said. “Under the PM Modi’s vision, WPRs are no less than any other citizen of the country.”—(KNO)
Beirut: The Lebanese government has tightened regulations on Syrian refugees as tension between the displaced and the local Lebanese continues to grow.
A statement released by the Council of Ministers said the “refugee status” will be officially cancelled for those who left the Lebanese territory, calling security services to “strictly pursue violators and prevent the illegal entry of Syrians” to the country, reports Xinhua news agency.
The cabinet also asked the Interior Ministry and Social Affairs Ministry to register the newborns of Syrians in Lebanon, and the Labour Ministry was tasked with tightening monitor to make sure that the refugees only work in permitted sectors.
The cabinet made the decisions as the country faced an unprecedented financial crisis, further exacerbated by the presence of over 2 million Syrian refugees.
“Tension among Lebanese citizens and the Syrian refugees has reached its highest levels, and we are now in a dangerous place,” Lebanon’s Deputy Parliament Speaker Elias Bou Saab said when meeting with Italian Ambassador to Lebanon Nicoletta Bombardiere.
“The situation requires a radical change in the European Union’s policy on the issue of the displaced and a speedy solution to the issue in a different way,” Saab was quoted as saying.
According to the UN Refugee Agency, Lebanon is currently facing its worst socioeconomic crisis in decades and hosts the highest number of refugees per capita and per square kilometre worldwide.
The government estimates 1.5 million Syrian refugees and 13,715 refugees of other nationalities.
Ninety per cent of Syrian refugees are living in extreme poverty, with the majority of them settled in the Bekaa region.
While prices are skyrocketing due to a severe economic crisis, almost half of the Lebanese and 2/3 of the 1.5 million Syrian refugees are food insecure.
Some 90 per cent of Syrians, 73 per cent of Palestinian refugees, and over 50 per cent of Lebanese households currently need assistance.
Lebanon has struggled to deal with emergencies like the Beirut port blast, Covid-19, and a cholera outbreak earlier this year.
Ukraine’s farmers played an iconic role in the first weeks of Russia’s invasion, towing away abandoned enemy tanks with their tractors.
Now, though, their prodigious grain output is causing some of Ukraine’s staunchest allies to waver, as disrupted shipments are redirected onto neighboring markets.
The most striking is Poland, which has played a leading role so far in supporting Ukraine, acting as the main transit hub for Western weaponry and sending plenty of its own. But grain shipments in the other direction have irked Polish farmers who are being undercut — just months before a national election where the rural vote will be crucial.
Diplomats are floundering. After a planned Friday meeting between the Polish and Ukrainian agriculture ministers was postponed, the Polish government on Saturday announced a ban on imports of farm products from Ukraine. Hungary late Saturday said it would do the same.
Ukraine is among the world’s top exporters of wheat and other grains, which are ordinarily shipped to markets as distant as Egypt and Pakistan. Russia’s invasion last year disrupted the main Black Sea export route, and a United Nations-brokered deal to lift the blockade has been only partially effective. In consequence, Ukrainian produce has been diverted to bordering EU countries: Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia.
At first, those governments supported EU plans to shift the surplus grain. But instead of transiting seamlessly onto global markets, the supply glut has depressed prices in Europe. Farmers have risen up in protest, and Polish Agriculture Minister Henryk Kowalczyk was forced out earlier this month.
Now, governments’ focus has shifted to restricting Ukrainian imports to protect their own markets. After hosting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Warsaw in early April, Polish President Andrzej Duda said resolving the import glut was “a matter of introducing additional restrictions.”
The following day, Poland suspended imports of Ukrainian grain, saying the idea had come from Kyiv. On Saturday, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, after an emergency cabinet meeting, said the import ban would cover grain and certain other farm products and would include products intended for other countries. A few hours later, the Hungarian government announced similar measures. Both countries said the bans would last until the end of June.
The European Commission is seeking further information on the import restrictions from Warsaw and Budapest “to be able to assess the measures,” according to a statement on Sunday. “Trade policy is of EU exclusive competence and, therefore, unilateral actions are not acceptable,” it said.
While the EU’s free-trade agreement with Ukraine prevents governments from introducing tariffs, they still have plenty of tools available to disrupt shipments.
Neighboring countries and nearby Bulgaria have stepped up sanitary checks on Ukrainian grain, arguing they are doing so to protect the health of their own citizens. They have also requested financial support from Brussels and have already received more than €50 million from the EU’s agricultural crisis reserve, with more money on the way.
Restrictions could do further harm to Ukraine’s battered economy, and by extension its war effort. The economy has shrunk by 29.1 percent since the invasion, according to statistics released this month, and agricultural exports are an important source of revenue.
Cracks in the alliance
The trade tensions sit at odds with these countries’ political position on Ukraine, which — with the exception of Hungary — has been strongly supportive. Poland has taken in millions of Ukrainian refugees, while weapons and ammunition flow in the opposite direction; Romania has helped transport millions of tons of Ukrainian corn and wheat.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Poland’s Prime Minister, Mateusz Morawiecki | Omar Marques/Getty Images
Some Western European governments, which had to be goaded by Poland and others into sending heavy weaponry to Kyiv, are quick to point out the change in direction.
“Curious to see that some of these countries are [always] asking for more on sanctions, more on ammunition, etc. But when it affects them, they turn to Brussels begging for financial support,” said one diplomat from a Western country, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Some EU countries also oppose the import restrictions for economic reasons. For instance, Spain and the Netherlands are some of the biggest recipients of Ukrainian grain, which they use to supply their livestock industries.
Politically, though, the Central and Eastern European governments have limited room for maneuver. Poland and Slovakia are both heading into general elections later this year. Bulgaria has had a caretaker government since last year. Romania’s agriculture minister has faced calls to resign, including from a compatriot former EU agriculture commissioner.
And farmers are a strong constituency. Poland’s right-wing Law & Justice (PiS) party won the last general election in 2019 thanks in large part to rural voters. The Ukrainian grain issue has already cost a Polish agriculture minister his job; the government as a whole will have to tread carefully to avoid the same fate.
This article has been updated.
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( With inputs from : www.politico.eu )
BRUSSELS — China and other powerful countries need to step up to help steer the world away from a potentially “catastrophic” hunger crisis this year, the new head of the United Nations’ World Food Programme said.
Cindy McCain, an American diplomat and the widow of the late U.S. Senator John McCain, also told POLITICO that the EU and U.S. should see world hunger as a national security issue due to its impact on migration. She furthermore accused Russia of using hunger as a “weapon of war” by hindering exports of Ukrainian grain.
McCain, formerly the U.S. ambassador to the U.N. food agencies, took the helm of the WFP on April 5 and begins her five-year term at a time of increasing world hunger. The number of people facing food insecurity around the world rose to a record 345 million at the end of last year, up from 282 million in 2021, according to the WFP’s figures, as Russia’s war in Ukraine deepened a food crisis driven by climate change, COVID-19 and other conflicts.
This year could be worse still, McCain warned, with the Horn of Africa experiencing its worst drought in 40 years and Haiti facing a sharp rise in food insecurity, among other factors. “2023 is going to be catastrophic if we don’t get to work and raise the money that we need,” she said. “We need a hell of a lot more than we used to.”
Non-Western countries, which have traditionally contributed much less to the WFP, need to step up to meet the shortfall, McCain said, pointing specifically to China and oil-rich Gulf Arab countries. China contributed just $11 million to WFP funds last year, compared to $7.2 billion donated by the U.S.
“There are some countries that have just basically not participated or participated in a very low fashion. I’d like to encourage our Middle Eastern friends to step up to the plate a little more; I’d like to encourage China to step up to the plate a little more,” said McCain. “Every region, every country needs to step up funding.”
Her entreaty may fall on deaf ears, however, given rising geopolitical tensions between the U.S. and China. The WFP’s last six executive directors have been American, dating back to 1992, and Beijing may prefer to distribute aid through its own channels. Last summer, for example, China shipped food aid directly to the Horn of Africa following a drought there.
National security
Countries hesitant to throw more money into food aid should think about the alternative, McCain said, particularly those in Europe that are likely to bear the brunt of any new wave of migration from Africa and the Middle East.
“Food security is a national security issue,” she said. “No refugee wants to leave their home country, but they’re forced to because they don’t have enough food, and they can’t feed their families. So it comes down to if you want a stable world, food is a major player in this.”
The WFP is already having to make brutal decisions despite raking in a record $14.2 billion last year — more than double what it raised in 2017. In February, for instance, it said a funding shortfall was forcing it to cut food rations for Rohingya refugees living in camps in Bangladesh.
The problem is compounded by surging costs following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year, which sent already-high food prices soaring further, as grain and oilseed exports through Ukraine’s Black Sea ports plunged from more than 5 million metric tons a month to zero.
A U.N.-brokered deal allowing Ukrainian grain exports to pass through Russia’s blockades in the Black Sea has brought some reprieve, but Moscow’s repeated threats to withdraw from the agreement have kept prices volatile.
Moscow claims that “hidden” Western sanctions are hindering its fertilizer and foods exports and causing hunger in the Global South | Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP via Getty Images
The deal, initially brokered in July last year, was extended for 120 days last month; Russia, however, agreed to extend its side of the Black Sea grain initiative only for 60 days. Last week, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov threatened, once again, to halt Moscow’s participation in the initiative unless obstacles to its own fertilizer and food exports are addressed.
Moscow claims that “hidden” Western sanctions — those targeting Russia’s fertilizer oligarchs and its main agricultural bank, as well as others excluding Russian banks from the international SWIFT payments system — are hindering its fertilizer and foods exports and causing hunger in the Global South.
Ukraine and its Western allies have countered that Russia is deliberately holding up inspections for ships heading to and from its Black Sea ports, creating a backlog of Ukraine-bound vessels off the Turkish coast and inflating prices.
These delayed food cargoes are hindering the WFP’s ability to respond to humanitarian crises, said McCain, who did not hold back on the issue.
“Let’s be very clear, there are no sanctions on [Russian] fertilizer,” she said. “It is not sanctioned and never has been sanctioned.”
Russia is “using hunger as a weapon of war,” said McCain. “it’s unconscionable that a country would do that — any country, not just Russia.”
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( With inputs from : www.politico.eu )
The pope’s Easter message is known by its Latin name, ”Urbi et Orbi,” which means “to the city and the world.”
Since Russia invaded neighboring Ukraine in February 2022, Francis has repeatedly called for the fighting to end and sought prayers for the “martyred” Ukrainian people.
Ukrainian diplomats have complained that he hasn’t come down hard enough in his statements on Russia and particularly Russian President Vladimir Putin as the Vatican tries to avoid alienating Russia.
“Help the beloved Ukrainian people on their journey towards peace, and shed the light of Easter upon the people of Russia,″ Francis implored God in his Easter speech, which he delivered while sitting in a chair on the central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica facing the square. ”Comfort the wounded and all those who have lost loved ones because of the war, and grant that prisoners may return safe and sound to their families.”
He urged the international community to work to end the war in Ukraine and “all conflict and bloodshed in the world, beginning with Syria, which still awaits peace.” Francis also prayed for those who lost loved ones in an earthquake that struck Syria and Turkey two months ago, claiming tens of thousands of lives.
With a renewal in deadly violence affecting both Israelis and Palestinians in recent days, Francis called for a “resumption of dialogue, in a climate of trust and reciprocal respect, between Israelis and Palestinians, so that peace may reign in the Holy City and in the entire region,″ a reference to Jerusalem.
But Francis also noted progress on some fronts.
“Let us rejoice at the concrete signs of hope that reach us from so many countries, beginning with those that offers assistance and welcome to all fleeing war and poverty,” he said, without naming any particular nations.
How to care for asylum-seekers, migrants and refugees, and whether to allow them entrance, is a raging political and social debate in much of Europe, as well in the United States and elsewhere.
The bloody conflicts cited by Francis contrasted with a riot of bright colors lent by orange-red tulips, yellow sprays of forsythia and daffodils, hyacinths and other colorful seasonal flowers that decorated St. Peter’s Square. The blooms were trucked in trucks from the Netherlands and set up in planters to decorate the Vatican square.
Some 45,000 people had gathered by the start of the mid-morning Mass, according to Vatican security services, but the crowd swelled to some 100,00 ahead of the noon appointment for the pontiff’s speech from the central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica overlooking the square.
A canopy on the edge of steps on the square sheltered the pontiff, who was back in the public eye 12 hours after a 2.25-hour long Easter vigil ceremony in St. Peter’s Basilica the night before.
Still recovering from bronchitis, Francis, 86, skipped the traditional Good Friday procession at Rome’s Colosseum due to unseasonably cold nighttime temperatures.
Francis has generally rebounded following a three-day stay last week at a Rome hospital where he was administered antibiotics intravenously for bronchitis. He was discharged on April 1.
But near the end of the more than two-hour-long Easter Sunday appearance, Francis seemed to start running out of steam. His voice grew hoarse and he interrupted his speech at one point to cough.
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( With inputs from : www.politico.com )
The yellow-and-blue flag of Ukraine has become a powerful symbol for millions of people across the Western world who want to express their solidarity with the victims of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s aggression.
Adopted officially in 1992, the year after Ukraine gained its independence from the Soviet Union, the banner represents the country’s pride in its status as Europe’s bread basket — just picture endless wheat fields under blue skies.
In the early days of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the colors were displayed on some of Europe’s most famous landmarks, from the Eiffel Tower to the Brandenburg Gate.
Over the course of the year since, the flag has spread to all corners of the Continent and beyond, in the hands of protesters, on official government buildings in London and Washington, and in the windows of private homes and cars.
Brandenburg Gate in Berlin | John Mcdougall/AFP via Getty ImagesEuropean Commission headquarters | Nicolas Maeterlinck/AFP via Getty ImagesMunich’s television tower | Christof Stache/AFP via Getty ImagesThe Eiffel Tower | Bertrand Guay/AFP via Getty Images
The flag not only came to signify Ukraine’s brave resistance in a war that ended decades of peace in Europe — it quickly became the hallmark of European unity in the face of the biggest state-backed threat to the Continent’s security this century.
On a visit to Kyiv in January, Charles Michel, the European Council’s president, captured the point.
“With the Maidan uprising, 22 years after gaining your independence, you, Ukrainians said: We are European,” Michel said. “So today, I have come to Ukraine to tell you: We are all Ukrainian.”
Kenzo Tribouillard/AFP via Getty ImagesNancy Pelosi and Vice President Kamala Harris and Volodymyr Zelenskyy | Chip Somodevilla/Getty ImagesJulien De Rosa/AFP via Getty ImagesBulent Kilic/AFP via Getty Images
Beyond political symbols, Putin’s invasion triggered the largest refugee crisis in Europe since World War II.
Within weeks, European governments rushed to welcome in millions of Ukrainians, skipping administrative procedures at a speed that caused some to raise eyebrows.
Benedicte Simonart was one of the founders of a Brussels-based NGO BEforUkraine, whose logo features the Belgian and Ukrainian flags side by side. She was “struck” by the solidarity of those early days. “It was unbelievable: People kept coming to us, they were so eager to help,” she said.
“We felt very close to the Ukrainians,” she added. “Ukraine is the door to Europe, it’s almost as if it was our home.”
As the war has dragged on, European resolve has remained stable at a political level and in surveys of public opinion. The question is how long this will last if the conflict continues.
“One year ago, Europe came together very strongly and very supportively,” said Erik Jones, director of the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies at the European University Institute.
“I’m very interested to see what this is going to do over the longer term in the way Europeans think about themselves,” Jones added. “As we approach this one-year anniversary, I think it’s really important to ask: Do we have the same power as a community to support Ukraine through what may be a very long conflict?”
For now at least, Europe and Ukraine seem closer than ever. Ukrainians, through the voice of their President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, make no secret of their desire to join the EU — the sooner, the better.
And the powerful symbolism of the flag continues to color European towns and cities, a gesture that’s welcomed by Ukrainians who are now living in Europe.
“The flag is very important: it’s the symbol of Ukraine, and we need to keep displaying it, to talk about it, to remind people,” said Artem Datsii. “Because the war goes on.”
Datsii, 21, is a student at the University of Geneva (Switzerland), where he moved before the war. He has not seen his parents, who live in Kyiv, for a year, but they speak regularly over the phone.
“At home, everyone is afraid that something will happen on the 24th,” Datsii said, referring to the invasion’s one-year marker. “The Russians love anniversaries.”
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( With inputs from : www.politico.eu )
Jamie Dettmer is opinion editor at POLITICO Europe.
It was in the early hours of the morning, a year ago in Kyiv, that blasts could be heard coming from the direction of Boryspil International Airport, southeast of the capital.
Early commuters were already on the road and, for nearly two hours, traffic continued to build. It was as though this was just another normal workday, and the blasts were nothing more than an inconvenience — like a severe rainstorm that weather forecasters had somehow, irritatingly, failed to predict.
As I looked down from my hotel balcony and talked with my newsdesk, planning the day’s coverage, the contrast between the morning commute and the rumbling explosions in the background was jarring. This is the start of a major European war, I thought. And much as I felt 21 years ago, when planes crashed into the Twin Towers and the Pentagon was engulfed in smoke, everything was going to be different now.
There’s always delayed shock when a war starts. It takes time to adjust to the enormity of what’s happening; people cling to their routines.
But by around 7:30 a.m., the commute into Kyiv had thinned out, as workers began to understand that the long-feared invasion was, indeed, happening. Those who had reached their offices turned tail and headed home. Down in the hotel lobby, there was pandemonium as television crews navigated past guests, frantically trying to check out.
Portly businessmen ordered their bodyguards to muscle through the panicked crowd and pack their Louis Vuitton suitcases into waiting black Mercedes and BMW SUVs. Squabbles erupted, as other guests tried to outbid each other at the concierge for drivers to speed them 600 kilometers away to the Polish border.
As this was happening, Russian President Vladimir Putin broadcast an angry address from Moscow. He said he could no longer tolerate, what he called threats from Ukraine, and that his goal was the “demilitarization and de-Nazification of Ukraine.” I glanced around but couldn’t see anyone in uniform — nor anyone identifiable as a Nazi.
Shortly after Putin spoke, the barrage on Kyiv intensified, and there were more thuds coming from the outskirts too, including from the direction of the city’s second airport at Zhuliany.
Reports of action elsewhere increased — of missile bombardments on half a dozen Ukrainian cities, and the targeting of air defense facilities and military infrastructure as far away as western Ukraine. Meanwhile, Russian troops had also landed on the country’s south coast and, even more alarmingly, armored columns had crossed the border north of the capital, from Belarus.
Broadcasting from his phone, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told Ukrainians he would declare martial law, and he urged them to stay home, saying: “Don’t panic. We are strong. We are ready for everything. We will defeat everyone. Because we are Ukraine.”
His words were echoed in the hotel by a spa attendant: “Everything is OK. Keep calm,” she told the jostling crowd to little avail.
People wait to board an evacuation train at Kyiv central train station on March 5, 2022 | Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP via Getty Images
By mid-morning the streets of downtown Kyiv were eerily deserted. The only people to be seen were dog-walkers and a handful of scurrying tourists, dragging their luggage and breathlessly asking for directions to the train station.
The capital’s suburban roads and the highways leading west, however, quickly gridlocked with the start of a huge, breathtaking exodus of families to Lviv and other Ukrainian towns near the borders of Poland, Slovakia, Romania and Hungary.
As the next few days unfolded, these are the snapshots left in my mind, of what I saw of a country on the move — the most dramatic flood of refugees seen since the Balkan wars of the 1990s, although it quickly dwarfed even that mass flight within days.
I saw the young saying their goodbyes to their parents, and trying to persuade their grandparents to leave as well. But many of the elderly refused, deciding to remain in family homes either to keep them secure or because they were too infirm or simply too plain stubborn to leave.
My mind now fills with images of evacuating families who fled the crash and thump of ordnance, pulling over by the side of the road to get some rest from their hours-long, or even days-long, personal odysseys. They were trying to get to neighboring borders that seemed to only get further away with each passing kilometer, their journeys disrupted by snarled-up traffic, sudden road closures, abrupt alarms and distant blasts. Families foraged for gas and food and water where they could — in small towns and at besieged gas stations, which quickly emptied of snacks, drinks and fuel.
As we traveled around, we saw cars creaking under the weight of stacked luggage and bags spilling over. Startled family pets were held by flagging hands. And etched in my memory are the faces of exhausted, disoriented children. They’d started out on their voyages gripped by a sense of excitement, seeing it all as a great adventure. But then the anxiety of their parents started to seep in, fatigue struck them, and they slowly realized something momentous had happened and struggled to make sense of it all.
Journeys that would normally take four or five hours stretched on and on. For some, getting from Kyiv to Lviv by car that first week took up to two or three days, and for families further afield in the east, it could take four or five days — a trip further complicated by the country’s notoriously inadequate road system.
But along the way, they — and I — encountered the kindness of strangers. For me, this kindness was personified by the middle-aged, deeply devout Oksana Shuper in the western town of Ternopil. She welcomed exhausted evacuees into her cramped apartment, also occupied by an infirm father, so that they could get some sleep. She would feed them oatmeal, strong coffee and fruit, before sending them on their way again with a hug and a prayer.
And as these evacuees made their way west, sometimes taking ever more circuitous routes down pot-holed country roads to bypass gridlock, they fretted: Where will we end up? And how will we cope when we get there?
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( With inputs from : www.politico.eu )
