Refugee pressure is increasing day by day, many European countries are struggling

　　□ Zhang Chunyou, our correspondent in Russia

　　With the continuation of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the spillover effect with the refugee issue as the main point of contradiction has emerged.

However, the United States, the United Kingdom and other countries are watching the fire from the other side, and they are "lip-serviced" to solve the refugee problem. Many European countries connected to Ukraine by land are facing increasing pressure from refugees, and public resources such as housing, education, and medical care are even more overwhelmed.

　　European countries struggling to cope

　　On May 23, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) revealed that the conflict between Russia and Ukraine caused "8 million people to migrate and take refuge in Ukraine, and more than 6 million registered refugees abroad."

Analysts estimate that the actual number of refugees is much higher than 6 million.

　　In terms of geographical location, the most affected by the Ukrainian refugee crisis this time is the bordering and adjacent European countries, such as Poland, Hungary, Romania and other countries.

Although these countries are EU member states, for various historical reasons, their economic development lags behind the EU average, not to mention compared with the traditional European powers.

This also exacerbates the difficulties in refugee admission, accommodation and resettlement to a certain extent.

　　According to data from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, within a month of the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, 2 million Ukrainian refugees poured into Poland, a neighboring country. At that time, Warsaw Mayor Terzaskovsky was already complaining, saying that the large number of refugees The influx has severely insufficient resources such as temporary housing, medical care, and education. "Warsaw is already on the verge of collapse."

Just a month later, the situation has gotten worse.

According to statistics, two months after the conflict, the number of Ukrainian refugees accepted by Poland exceeded 3 million.

Now, after more than three months of conflict, the number of refugees has risen sharply again, overwhelming the Polish government's response.

　　According to data from the German Interior Ministry, as of May 11, more than 700,000 refugees had fled from Ukraine to Germany. About 40% of Ukrainian refugees were minors, and women accounted for 81% of registered adult refugees.

　　The situation in the above-mentioned countries is only a microcosm of Europe's struggle to cope and resettle refugees.

　　According to the EU think tank Brueghel Institute, the resettlement of Ukrainian refugees in the EU will cost at least 43 billion euros in 2022, accounting for about a quarter of the EU's total planned expenditure for the year, and this figure is as the conflict between Russia and Ukraine continues. will also increase.

　　In order to strike a balance between admitting Ukrainian refugees and maintaining their own social security systems, European countries, including Germany, have adopted corresponding restrictive measures.

For example, there are restrictions on temporary occupations, shopping, medical care, etc. that refugees can engage in locally.

But obviously, this is only a temporary measure.

　　Next, the massive influx of Ukrainian refugees will bring greater and heavier burdens to European countries in terms of medical care, employment, children's education and illegal stay.

　　The United States and the United Kingdom watch the fire across the shore

　　As the "initiator" behind the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the United States has not taken concrete actions to help Europe digest and solve the refugee problem, except by constantly exaggerating the Russian threat theory and tying Europe to its "chariot" .

Previously, the United States had promised to accept 100,000 Ukrainian refugees, but in the actual operation, only less than 100 people passed the review to enter the United States in March, and a large number of Ukrainians were stranded on the border between Mexico and the United States.

　　Like the United States, the United Kingdom "draws a big picture" of Ukrainian refugees, but it is exactly the same as the United States in actual operation. The strict visa review system makes the number of Ukrainian refugees it accepts far lower than other European countries.

Not only Ukrainian refugees are dissatisfied with this, but European countries are also quite critical.

　　On the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, European Commission vice-president for migration, Skinas, said millions of Ukrainian refugees were entering Europe, and severe food shortages would leave them looking for food, leaving the hungry. Refugees "will not be so easy to manage and the situation will be more chaotic".

　　Puszolkovsky, a researcher at the Center for Migration Studies at the University of Warsaw, said that refugees who have recently entered Europe can still find some temporary shelter at this stage, but for these refugees, the key to the problem is how to find a long-term safe place.

　　The future faces greater challenges

　　Public resources such as housing, education, and medical care in European countries are under severe pressure, and they are currently unable to accommodate such a large number of Ukrainian refugees who are still pouring in.

The temporary resettlement houses previously opened by the government and NGOs have long been overcrowded.

　　To this end, some European countries have to call on their people to accept Ukrainian refugees in a "private way".

For example, the United Kingdom formulated the "Ukrainian House" plan in March.

This move did relieve some of the refugee pressures faced at the national level, but it brought more social problems to European countries.

　　Although Europe does need cheap labor, in the context of economic downturn and severe pressure on public resources, the influx of large numbers of refugees will become an unbearable burden for Europe.

Some European media are even worried that the refugee crisis will lead to a rise in the support ratings of far-right parties in many European countries, as happened after the refugee crisis in 2015.

　　Many European countries that had previously waved their flags for the Ukrainian side in the Russia-Ukraine conflict and showed a welcome gesture to the refugees are now suffering the consequences of their own.

　　It is foreseeable that with the continuation of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine and the increase of uncertainty in the future, the Ukrainian refugee crisis will continue to ferment, and its spillover effect will make European countries face greater tests.