On Monday, the Warsaw Conference “Permanent Working Review Conference on Support for Ukraine” is held at the Chancellery of the Prime Minister. During one of the panels, the head of the family and social policy department spoke, who assessed that the joint actions of the government, local government and non-governmental organisations showed that Poland had passed the human test.
“The activities that my ministry has been dealing with are primarily supporting Ukrainian citizens, organising care and appropriate support for children who also came to Poland without their parents” she reminded. She exchanged, among others the establishment of appropriate provisions in legal acts on temporary care or the establishment of hubs that were related to the evacuation of children.
Same rights as Poles
She emphasised that refugees from Ukraine, under the Special Act, received the same rights as Poles – they reside legally in Poland, have the right to work legally, and also have the right to apply for appropriate benefits.
900,000 refugees
She emphasised that after February 24, the employment structure of Ukrainian citizens changed – over 70 percent arrived in Poland are women with children. It reported that nearly 900,000 refugees from this country took up employment, e.g. in the hotel industry, gastronomy and services.
“People working in Poland complement our labour market. Here in Poland, taxes are paid, contributions are paid”, she said.
The deputy head of the Ministry of Interior and Administration, government plenipotentiary for refugees from Ukraine, Paweł Szefernaker, reminded that the largest number of people fleeing the war ended up in private Polish homes.
“By the end of January, nearly 2 million Ukrainian refugees found shelter with Polish families, in Polish homes” – he said.
He also spoke about the government’s assistance to refugees migrating inside Ukraine.
“The Polish government, through the activities of the Government Agency for Strategic Reserves, provides repair of critical infrastructure, food and medicines. We have built temporary homes for several thousand internally displaced persons. We have delivered over 30,000 accommodation sets, beds and bedding to Ukraine, he said.
“Our humanitarian aid organised by RARS exceeded PLN 1 billion. We are a logistics hub for help from all over the world. Over 200,000 tons of donated aid. Almost 100,000 trucks. Thanks to this, these migrations to Western Europe are also smaller than could be expected in the first days of the war, said the government representative.
She also mentioned the development of cooperation between the government, local government and organisations.
“Today, after the experience of this cooperation – with UNHCR, the International Red Cross, the Polish Red Cross, the Polish Center for International Aid, which every day performs titanic work in helping Ukraine and Ukrainian refugees, and with many other Polish smaller non-governmental organisations – we managed to organise a system, which we create together, which is coherent”, he stressed.
Source: 300gospodarka