Refugees: The human cost of the conflict in Ukraine

Passing through the Ukrainian security forces checkpoint it becomes all too clear that you are leaving the safety of Mariupol. The checkpoint is peppered with dug in APC’s and tanks, Soldiers solemnly stand in makeshift pillboxes made of sand bags, wood, brick or anything that can provide added protection.

Each car is checked thoroughly by nervous young soldiers then reluctantly allowed to pass. The checkpoint is set up to repel any major offensive by the rebels. Defensive anti- tank barricades, strangely adorned with flowers and the Ukrainian flag,  jostle for position with the sandbag barricades.

We are heading for a refugee camp in Sjedove, a small village around 50kms from Mariupol. There has been an influx of refugees to the area with the population now peaking at 600. For a small seaside town this has become overwhelming.   We arrived at the administration office of the volunteer group organising the refugees. The single woman trying to arrange supplementary payments for the refugees struggled to cope with the group of people desperately struggling to be processed. One of the refugees Katriana from Slaviansk told us her situation “It is difficult here, we have no food, no money nowhere to live, nobody cares. Every day we must come here for help” 

The tiny room in an old Government building is the only place the refugees can go for assistance. After waiting helplessly for a few hours to try and speak to someone we are invited upstairs by the Governor of the town.  After an initially cold reception he warms to us and proudly shows us his painted portrait hung above his head and two books with his face on the front detailing his expedition to the South and North Poles when he was a young man. Finally he gave us access and help in finding out more about the refugee situation there. He was still very cautious in our presence although we had the feeling he was more worried about getting permission and clearance from his peers as there had been rumours floating about that we were spies. 

After an hour of negotiation with the governor and local military border guards we were allowed access to the refugee pensions but not before the Mayor drove us to a local food distribution centre, where donations of food, clothing and medicine from local people were divided up and handed out to the refugees.

 Head of distribution Nina Ivanovna explained that “All donations are from local people, everyone has helped even though they have little themselves. It really is special how people have pulled together with basically no government support.” Surrounding her are piles of clothes and food that have been donated. The centre was previously the cultural museum for the area and now seems to have an even more important purpose.

The governor then drove us to the chalet park that now served as a refugee camp. The camp itself was in a state of severe disrepair but the apartments were quite comfortable. 

Groups of people stood around the central area of the camp, many have been here for months. Frustration is etched onto their faces. Initially they were hostile to our arrival surrounding us and stating that we didn’t care and were only here to make money, but after some pleading from our translator they calmed down and we began to ask them about life in the camp.

Few are reluctant to go on record with any interview as the fear of Russian infiltration is still very strong in this region but after some persuading we managed to talk to two women who had been at the camp for several months.

Valentina Nazarova was one of the first refugees to arrive at the centre after fleeing from Slaviansk. “I fled with some of my family but my husband has bad legs. We had to leave him in Slaviansk, he is probably dead now, he could be alive or dead. I do not know.”

Another refugee Lilia Dyachenko revealed the difficulty of living far away from family and friends. “I call my husband every day and we both cry, every day we cry. I hope I will see him again.  I worry about him all the time”

Lilia became very upset during the interview but her husband who did not want to be named, insisted we look at the shrapnel mark on his car. A large gouge on one side of the car was caused by shrapnel which punched through both walls of his house into the garage. He said that the situation in Slaviansk was far more severe than reported and according to the amount of refugees at the camp he had a point.

The refugee situation in Eastern Ukraine has been growing in severity in the last few weeks with estimates now suggesting that up to 50 000 people have been displaced since the conflict began. 

With tensions still high, refugees arrive in small towns like Sjedove every day and if numbers continue to rise it could result in a real humanitarian crisis in Ukraine that no amount of EU mediation will resolve.