Supporting Ukrainian refugees: emerging risks and future challenges

Monday 25 July 2022

Don’t call it a “crisis”, it’s a war!

Far from being an old-fashioned melee, what’s going in Ukraine is an armed conflict that forced millions of civilians, mainly women and their children, to flee their homes. In light of the vulnerabilities of these refugees, several International Organisations and NGOs expressed their concern about the risk of gender-based violence, trafficking and other forms of exploitation faced by Ukrainian people during their perilous journey throughout Europe.

As stated by António Vitorino, IOM Director General, people fleeing Ukraine “can be especially vulnerable to the risk of trafficking as they leave their homes unexpectedly and might have their usual family networks and financial security seriously disrupted.”

According to the UN Refugee Agency, 9.567.033 refugees crossed the Ukrainian border searching for safety and assistance into the neighbouring countries, as Poland and Romania. As of the 15th of July, 150.791 people arrived in Italy since the beginning of the war, with Rome, Milan, Naples and Bologna being the main destination for those escaping from Ukraine.

Despite the alarming figures which have been registered so far, the Ukrainian conflict and its direct and indirect consequences are no longer on top of the European political agenda.

For this and other reasons, on the 20th of July, CESIE organised a multiplier event (hereinafter ME) with the aim of presenting and discussing the measures and the actions which have been put in place so far to support the Ukrainian refugees arrived in Italy and prevent the risk of trafficking, with a special focus on Sicily and Palermo.

The event was organised within the framework of the YU WOK 2 END HT project (Erasmus + KA2 – Strategic Partnership for youth – Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices) aimed at improving skills of youth workers on the prevention, identification and support of young potential victims of human trafficking by equipping them with practical tools and increasing their awareness on the topic.

Many experts participated in the ME, including representatives of the International Rescue Committee (IRC) and Centro Penc of Palermo, with the aim of assessing the most relevant needs of the Ukrainian refugees and explore the potential steps to be taken in the near future to support these people.

It is worth to be highlighted that a local committee (in Italian Comitato “Salva Ucraini”) established on February 2022 by Ukrainians women residing in Palermo, together with their partners, participated with enthusiasm in the event and presented a list of activities to be implemented and needs to be met in order to provide effective support to the single-parents households arriving in Palermo.

In this regard, grassroots mobilisation and local volunteer associations have been playing a crucial role in providing relevant support to people fleeing the war zones in Ukraine, with a special focus on accommodation and health-care. As a matter of fact, since the very beginning the “burden” of receiving and supporting refugees have oftentimes fallen on the Italian and Ukrainian families and on civil society organisations.

It is worth to be highlighted that, as of the 1st of July, only 13,304 out of 137,000 Ukrainians refugees have found accommodation within the official integration and reception system in Italy, while the vast majority are hosted in private apartments and dormitories, usually run by religious associations, non-profit organisations.

The above-mentioned data were confirmed during the ME and besides this, it emerged that hosting families have been facing enormous difficulties in dealing with traumatised mothers and children, as they were clearly unprepared and unable to cope with vulnerable refugees for such a long time.

Some participants also pointed out that a poor level of coordination between local actors may be critical and cause aid fragmentation, waste of resources and further hardships for Ukrainian women and children. Now that the wave of solidarity is decreasing, it’s also crucial to keep the focus on the Ukraine war and draw people’s attention on this phenomenon once again.

As the war rages on, the chances for Ukrainian refugees to return to their homes within the near future seem to be narrowing day by day and emergency solutions are no longer effective nor suited for the current circumstances. For many Ukrainian families as for the hosting communities, what initially appeared to be a temporary solution is now turning into a long period of stalemate characterised by social hardship, linguistic and cultural barriers and littles chances for integration into the host country.

All these factors add a further layer of vulnerability to those fleeing the armed conflict in Ukraine and may expose them to a higher risk of being deceived or exploited.

In light of the above, apart from presenting the YU WOK 2 END HT project, the event gave us the opportunity to establish a new relevant network of associations that from now on will collaborate to prevent human trafficking and provide assistance to Ukrainians refugees, 90% of them are mothers and children.

Despite being far from the spotlight, volunteers and grassroots organisations in Palermo are responding to the refugee crisis. Through its multiplier event CESIE provided its contribution and created the ground for multilateral cooperation against trafficking and exploitation of women and girls.

The members of the new network will meet again after the Summer-break so stay tuned.

We will keep you posted!

About the project

YU WOK 2 END HT project is cofunded by Erasmus + KA2 – Strategic Partnership for youth – Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices.