Page 6 - aruba-today-20220301_Part3

A6 WORLD NEWS
Friday 4 March 2022
U.N. refugee agency: 1 million flee Ukraine in under a week

By JAMEY KEATEN alone, based on the latest
GENEVA (AP) — The U.N. UNHCR count. Some long-
refugee agency said Thurs- time staffers accustomed
day that 1 million people to dealing with refugee cri-
have now fled Ukraine ses said they'd never seen
since Russia's invasion less anything like this exodus.
than a week ago, an exo- Syria, whose civil war erupt-
dus without precedent in ed in 2011, remains the
this century for its speed. country with the largest
The tally from the U.N. High refugee outflows — nearly
Commissioner for Refugees 5.7 million people, accord-
amounts to more than 2% ing to UNHCR's figures. But
of Ukraine's population even at the swiftest rate of
— which the World Bank flight out of that country, in
counted at 44 million at the early 2013, it took at least
end of 2020 — on the move three months for 1 million
across borders in just seven refugees to leave Syria.
days. The agency cautions Two years later, in 2015,
that the outflows are far hundreds of thousands of
from finished: It has predict- Syrian and other refugees
ed that as many as 4 million who had mostly been in
people could eventually Turkey fled into Europe,
leave Ukraine, and even A woman runs as she flees with her family across a destroyed bridge in the outskirts of Kyiv, prompting disarray in the
that projection could be Ukraine, Wednesday, March 2. 2022. European Union over its
revised upward. Associated Press response and at times skir-
In an email, UNHCR spokes- mishes and pushbacks at
woman Joung-ah Ghedini- minute, more people are pealed for the "guns to for the Coordination of Hu- some national borders.
Williams wrote, "Our data fleeing the terrifying reality fall silent" in Ukraine so hu- manitarian Affairs — which So far, U.N. officials and
indicates we passed the of violence. Countless have manitarian aid can reach launched an appeal for others have generally
1M mark" as of midnight in been displaced inside the millions more still inside the funds with UNHCR on Tues- praised the response from
central Europe, based on country," said Grandi, who country. day. Ukraine's neighbors, who
counts collected by na- on Thursday was visiting Grandi's comments testi- The day-by-day figures have opened homes, gym-
tional authorities. Ukraine neighbor Roma- fied to the desperation of pointed to the dizzying nasiums and other facilities
U.N. High Commissioner nia, which has taken in Ukrainians as artillery fire, speed of the evacuation: to take in the new refugees.
Filippo Grandi said in a tens of thousands of refu- exploding mortar shells and After more than 82,000 UNHCR spokeswoman Sha-
statement: "I have worked gees. "And unless there is gunfire echoed across the people left on the first day bia Mantoo said Wednes-
in refugee emergencies for an immediate end to the country, and the growing of the Russian invasion on day that "at this rate" the
almost 40 years, and rarely conflict, millions more are concerns across the U.N. Feb. 24, each day after that outflows from Ukraine
have I seen an exodus as likely to be forced to flee system at agencies like tallied at least 117,000 new could make it the source of
rapid as this one." Ukraine." the World Health Organi- refugees, hitting a peak of "the biggest refugee crisis
"Hour by hour, minute by On Twitter, Grandi ap- zation and the U.N. Office nearly 200,000 on Tuesday this century."q

China denies asking Russia not to invade until post-Olympics

voked the war by not ruling fore the Olympics opening port indicated that "senior
out NATO membership for ceremony. The two coun- Chinese officials had some
Ukraine. tries issued a joint state- level of direct knowledge
"We hope the culprit of the ment in which they de- about Russia's war plans or
crisis would reflect on their clared "friendship between intentions before the inva-
role in the Ukraine crisis, the two states has no limits, sion started last week."
take up their responsibili- there are no 'forbidden' ar- China is the only major
ties, and take practical ac- eas of cooperation." government that hasn't
tions to ease the situation In the statement, China criticized Moscow's attack
and solve the problem in- also endorsed Russia's op- on Ukraine and has also
stead of blaming others," position to further NATO ex- ruled out joining the United
Wang told reporters at a pansion and demand that States and European gov-
daily briefing. it "respect the sovereignty, ernments in imposing finan-
The article in The New York security and interests of cial sanctions on Russia.
Times cited a "Western intel- other countries." Russia, for Instead, Beijing has en-
ligence report" considered its part, reaffirmed its sup- dorsed the Russian argu-
Chinese President Xi Jinping, right, and Russian President Vladi-
mir Putin talk to each other during their meeting in Beijing, Feb. credible by officials. port for China's claim over ment that Moscow's se-
4, 2022. "The New York Times report Taiwan, the self-governing curity was threatened by
Associated Press is purely fake news, and island Beijing threatens to NATO's eastern expansion.
such behaviors of divert- annex by force if neces- China abstained in
BEIJING (AP) — China on tempt to divert attention ing attentions and shifting sary. Wednesday's U.N. General
Thursday denounced a and shift blame over the blames are very despica- The Times said it wasn't Assembly emergency ses-
report that it asked Russia conflict. ble," Wang said. clear whether the commu- sion vote to demand an im-
to delay invading Ukraine Foreign Ministry spokes- Russian President Vladimir nication about an invasion mediate halt to Moscow's
until after the Beijing Win- person Wang Wenbin also Putin met with his Chinese took place between Xi and attack on Ukraine and the
ter Olympics as "fake news" repeated China's accusa- counterpart, Xi Jinping, in Putin or at a lower level, withdrawal of all Russian
and a "very despicable" at- tion that Washington pro- Beijing on Feb. 4, hours be- but that the intelligence re- troops.