What Lies Ahead for Ukrainian Refugees with Disabilities?
In Ukraine, a rush to the border continues.
The United Nations Refugee Agency says over 3.5 million people have fled Ukraine since the Russian invasion began. More than two million people have poured into Poland alone.
Galyna, our Joni and Friends In-Country Coordinator in Ukraine, continues to work courageously to rescue people with disabilities, and their caregivers and families. Since the war began, Galyna and Joni and Friends have evacuated five groups of vulnerable people, totaling nearly 300.
Today, the 6th evacuation caravan is in process, rescuing 50 people, 7 wheelchair users among them, from the dangerous areas of Chernegiv, Kiev, Zhytomyr, Brovary, and Korosten.
Upon arrival across the border in Poland, Anna, our Joni and Friends partner in Poland receives refugees, and coordinates their care. Each refugee receives a hot meal and a hotel room while transport is arranged for a longer-term stay with our partners in Germany or the Netherlands.
Anna shared a story of God’s provision for the great and rising needs of the refugee community and those who receive them.
“God is faithful. He gives help and supplies. When there was a need to organize accommodation in Poland for a group of refugees from Ukraine, I faced a difficult challenge. All the hotels near the border were already taken. One of them has rooms reserved even until the end of May.
I asked God for help. Overnight I had to find accommodation for several dozen people, in a hotel with an active elevator, a large parking lot, and at least basic adjustment for persons with disabilities. The situation was dynamic, the list of people was getting longer. The Lord came to help, he gave us a place in a hotel with friendly staff who were looking for any way to fit our needs.”
—Anna
That night, the refugees arrived at the hotel after midnight, hungry and exhausted after spending the whole day in the car. God provided help through a friend of Anna’s who lives near the border. She packed a meal from a restaurant and brought dinner to the group.
Anna said that in her region of Poland, universities, student hostels, and homes are all opening to shelter people. “Two groups of people stayed in my home. It’s from day to day,” said Anna.
When Joni asked Anna what Scriptures have supported her through this trying time, she pointed to Isaiah 40:31:
“Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”
For Ukrainian refugees, particularly those living with disability, needs go far beyond safe passage into Poland. Galyna recently described the mood among evacuees as travel to the border.
“Many of them are sad because they are leaving their country. They do not know how the situation will go. They don’t know how long they are going to stay there in a foreign country. And I also understand that if the war continues for months, the European countries will not be able to take care of all the people with disabilities and other refugees. And that’s something that frightens me, and something that they also understand.”
—Galyna
Joni and Friends sees the long-term needs of the people we help to rescue from Ukraine.
Our Netherlands location has already welcomed 118 evacuees impacted by disability, and is preparing to receive more, up to its 400-person capacity.
In the Netherlands and other locations, Joni and Friends is committed to caring for Ukrainian refugees impacted by disability long after they cross the border. For at least one year, Joni and Friends partners will provide shelter, hygiene products, medical attention, clothing, food, and counseling for psychological trauma.
“For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in.”
Matthew 25:35
In the days and weeks ahead, let’s keep asking the Lord to protect and oversee evacuations to come, and meet the long-term needs of people with disabilities from Ukraine.
