MOSCOW, July 22 (RIA Novosti) - Tens of thousands of Ukrainians who left their homes as a result of fighting need urgent aid as the government has not provided them with sufficient assistance, Human Rights Watch (HRW) director of Europe and Central Asia division Hugh Williamson stated in an open letter to Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.
“We fully recognize that the government has had to cope with multiple, profound crises in a short period of time ... But as the number of people forced from their homes continues to grow, so also does the urgency of finding sustainable solutions for them,” Williamson stated in the letter.
Human rights activists note that the Ukrainian government made some efforts to assist the refugees, but added that they need to do more to provide housing, social services and other types of aid, as well as access to information on available evacuation assistance in areas where hostilities are ongoing.
At the same time the flow of refugees from Ukraine’s southeast to Russia, in particular to the bordering Rostov Region, has increased dramatically since June due to intensified fighting. Anywhere from 500 to 1,000 people are being accommodated in the region on a daily basis.
Russia’s Federal Migration Service head Konstantin Romodanovsky announced last week that nearly 490,000 people have fled Ukraine for Russia since the beginning of the crisis.