I wanted to share my latest op-ed in The Daily Beast, co-authored with Karen Redlener, about our recent trip to Poland, where we met with Ukrainian children and families displaced by Putin’s indiscriminate war across the border in Ukraine. The stories of suffering and hardship we heard were powerful but represented only a handful of the 14 million displaced Ukrainians that have been forced from their homes in Ukraine.

While Poland has been remarkably welcoming to some three million displaced Ukrainians, we are concerned that the patience and hospitality of Poland and others could fade: Warsaw’s health and hospital systems are under serious stress, not to mention the need to find permanent housing and jobs for the new arrivals. And perhaps most significantly, we’re deeply concerned about the disrupted education and educational trajectories of children.

To see our suggestions and read more about our experience in Poland with the International Medical Corps, read the full article here.

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“Poland alone has welcomed nearly three million Ukrainians (about 800,000 refugees have already returned to Ukraine). Another 700,000 have applied for special 18-month Polish ID cards entitling them to access to housing support, schools, social services, and work permits. As of last week, some 300,000 Ukrainians are in Warsaw—having raised the city’s population by more than 15 percent. This is proportionately equivalent to New York City accepting and providing services to over 1.2 million traumatized, non-English speaking war refugees over a matter of weeks. The refugees in Warsaw include some 100,000 school-age children, of which only about 20,000 have been enrolled in schools, such as the high school we visited.

Warsaw’s dynamic mayor, Rafal Trzaskowski, has opened special centers for many of the children trying to learn remotely, and he wants to establish temporary “container classrooms” to accommodate the kids who will need to be in classroom settings. But, right now, resources permit fulfilling only a fraction of the need. And, of course, this is not the only item on the mayor’s agenda. Warsaw’s health and hospital systems are under serious stress, not to mention the need to find permanent housing and jobs for the new arrivals.

Ukrainian refugees of all ages will clearly be struggling for the foreseeable future. It is essential to act urgently. We (the U.S. and our Ukraine-supporting allies), must ensure that children receive appropriate support to deal with trauma, and that they get into an effective educational trajectory as quickly as possible.”

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