This was said on May 31, 2022 by the spokesman of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Boris Cheshirkov
Bulgaria was one of the first countries in the European Union to register all Ukrainian citizens in need of protection.
This was said in Varna by Boris Cheshirkov, spokesman for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). He specified that the delegation of the organization is in Bulgaria at the invitation of the government.
The EU ‘s response to the granting of temporary protection to refugees
is unprecedented, Cheshirkov added. He assessed that our country has very quickly managed to activate mobile groups and open special offices. Currently, there is no Ukrainian citizen who has wished to be registered for temporary protection, and this has not happened, added Cheshirkov.
There are currently more than 100 million people forcibly displaced worldwide, the first time in history, he added.
“In fact, by the end of 2021, that figure was 90 million, but with the conflict in Ukraine it exceeded 100 million,” Cheshirkov said.
According to him, there are over 8 million internally displaced people and more than 6 million refugees, 110,000 of whom have arrived in Bulgaria.
It is important to find the most vulnerable people among the refugees and to be the first to receive support, the expert added.
He appealed to the leaders of the Ukrainian community in our country to continue to work actively and to encourage their compatriots to trust the efforts of the Bulgarian state.
“We will continue to monitor the processes in Bulgaria and give support to the government, and at the moment we are specifying how we will be most useful,” Cheshirkov added.
He confirmed that there are already Ukrainians returning to their homeland, not only from our country, but also from Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Hungary. According to him, however, it is still too early to say that this return is permanent, because many return only to see their loved ones or whether their homes are still intact.
Source: BTA
