By Neil Gray
WE’VE all seen on our TV screens the heart-breaking testimonies of people fleeing from the war in Ukraine. But witnessing things in person on the ground is a very different story.
I’m just back from a two-day trip to Warsaw and Kraków to show our solidarity with the Polish people and their response in supporting displaced people from Ukraine. During my visit, I met with different levels of government in Poland, inspirational leaders from civil society, and international aid organisations to see how the Scottish Government’s £4 million in financial aid to help with humanitarian assistance has made a difference.
I met Polish Scouts helping refugees in Kraków, including Izabela, who leads a team of volunteers at UNICEF’s Blue Dot Centre. These are safe places at key transit points that provide families and children with critical information and services. UNICEF has used some of the £1 million from the Scottish Government to fund 24 Blue Dot Centres in countries neighbouring Ukraine where there are high numbers of displaced people.
It was also deeply impressive to see the work of the Open Kraków Coalition, led by Maria Wojtacha, made up of charitable foundations, local government and non-government organisations who work together to deliver key services as simply and easily as possible for displaced people arriving from Ukraine.
Right at the start of the war, they repurposed Szafa Dobra, an unoccupied shopping mall, fitting out the shops on the first floor with a one-stop-shop service centre. On the ground floor a large clothing and footwear store has been set up where those who have fled their homes can select what they need with dignity.
This is where many of the donations from the beginning of the war have ended up. The clothes are professionally laundered and then sorted by volunteers into sizes and seasons and displayed as they would be in a department store.
Szafa Dobra also provides temporary accommodation and food for mainly women and children. They live in challenging conditions and what I saw and witnessed will live with me for a long time.
So will the stories I heard of people volunteering, which were humbling and inspiring. For instance, Alen Ruznik, himself once a refugee from the war in Bosnia 30 years ago, came to Kraków to deliver nutritious food to those at Szafa Dobra through the NGO World Central Kitchen. Alen even stays on a camp bed himself.
It was striking how many Ukranian voices you can hear in Kraków and Warsaw and many of the adverts and billboards in the cities are now in Ukrainian as well as Polish. This is indicative of how organisational efforts are beginning to shift from humanitarian assistance to longer-term integration strategies.
One of the major lessons from my visit is the need for national and local government in Scotland to fully utilise the power of the third sector and engage volunteer networks to help support displaced people settling in our communities.
It was also good to see that a lot of what we’re doing here in Scotland is really appreciated by our international partners. Displaced people from Ukraine are assured of a warm Scottish welcome and to date 4,271 people with a Scottish sponsor have arrived.
However, as the war in Ukraine continues, Scottish support for agencies on the ground in the region is still very much needed. Seeing the situation in Poland first hand has also made me more determined to continue our efforts to do everything we possibly can to support Ukranians whilst Scotland is their home.
Neil Gray is Minister with Special Responsibility for Refugees from Ukraine
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