A young girl from Ukraine holds her dog as she waits with her mother for a bus to refuge accommodation after they crossed the border into Medyka, Poland (Victoria Jones/PA)
(Picture: PA Wire)Nearly 6.5 million people have been internally displaced as a result of the war in Ukraine, the UN migration agency said on Monday, on top of the 3.3 million who have managed to escape the country.
António Vitorino, the Director General of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), said the scale of human suffering and forced displacement due to the war “far exceeds any worst-case scenario planning.”
He said IOM teams had been providing aid to thousands of people but those in severely affected areas remained out of reach.
The figures come from a study conducted by the International Organization for Migration between March 9-16 and do not include another 3.3 million people it says have fled across borders since the Russian invasion on February 24.
Many of the displaced are particularly vulnerable, including pregnant women, the elderly and people with chronic diseases, IOM said.
It reiterated a call for the cessation of hostilities and for the creation of humanitarian corridors to allow civilians to escape.
The numbers were released as a senior minister revealed around 9,500 visas have been issued to refugees under the Ukraine Family Scheme.
Health Secretary Sajid Javid told LBC there were “two programmes in place” to help those fleeing the war.
He said: “One is the family reunion program where, my understanding is, at the weekend there were 9,500 visas issued and then there’s the hosting a Ukrainian family program where some 150,000 people have registered their interest.
“And it’s important that we continue to help in that way. I expect that we will see hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians arrive here in the UK, and they will get all the support that they need.”
Work and Pensions Secretary Therese Coffey said Ukrainian evacuees coming to the UK are able to access Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) benefits, support and services from day one,.
She told MPs: “Job centres will be helping people to find and move into employment with assistance from an assigned work coach and extra support available through our flexible support fund.
“We’re also ensuring that those who stepped up to sponsor a Ukrainian individual or family do not see their household benefit entitlements affected as a result.”
