SWITZERLAND-UKRAINE SECURITY/REFUGEES UN refugee agency fears mass displacement in Ukraine

Record ID: 274639

  • Title: SWITZERLAND-UKRAINE SECURITY/REFUGEES UN refugee agency fears mass displacement in Ukraine
  • Date: 2nd September 2014
  • Summary: GENEVA, SWITZERLAND (SEPTEMBER 2, 2014) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF UNITED NATIONS BUILDING (SOUNDBITE) (English) UNITED NATIONS HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR REFUGEES (UNHCR) SPOKESMAN ADRIAN EDWARDS SAYING: "Ongoing fighting in the east of Ukraine, particularly around Donetsk, Luhansk and neighbouring towns, is driving more people from their homes and increasing the need for humanitar
  • Embargoed: 17th September 2014 13:00
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  • Location: Switzerland
  • Country: Switzerland
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA27PJ2FCC5W9IHX7KQHOLHYXFV
  • Story Text: The number of people displaced in Ukraine by fighting has nearly doubled in the past month to at least 260,000 and more are fleeing amid fears of mass displacement, the United Nations refugee agency UNHCR said on Tuesday (September 2).
    "Ongoing fighting in the east of Ukraine, particularly around Donetsk, Luhansk and neighbouring towns, is driving more people from their homes and increasing the need for humanitarian aid. The number of people displaced inside Ukraine has more than doubled in the past month. As of September 1, the UNHCR estimates that 260,000 people were displaced compared to 117,000 in early August," UNHCR spokesman Adrian Edwards told a news briefing in Geneva.
    But he added that the true figure could be much higher as many of the displaced people chose to stay with relatives without declaring themselves to the authorities.
    The agency later said it believed that in total more than a million have had to leave their homes, including some 814,000 Ukrainians now in Russia with various forms of status.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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