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War fatigue, inflation in Europe hit Ukraine’s relief efforts

#War #fatigue #inflation #Europe #hit #Ukraines #relief #efforts

Ruslana Hrytskiv has helped “dozens, maybe hundreds” of refugees since Russia invaded Ukraine, but her task is growing more difficult as war fatigue sets in and Europe grapples with soaring prices and record inflation.

When she tried to find shoes for Ukrainian children on Facebook this week, she instead found herself engaged in a debate about the health aspects of wearing second-hand shoes.

Her argument that the mother, who gave birth to her third child on the way to Prague, simply could not afford anything new for her twins, was unconvincing.

“The response is slower than it used to be,” said Hrytskiv, a Ukrainian who has lived in the Czech Republic for over two decades.

“In the beginning, people were unexpectedly accommodating,” she noted.

Hrytskiv’s experience is echoed by aid organizations across Eastern Europe that have taken in hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian refugees, mostly women with children.

Like the rest of the continent, the region is grappling with galloping prices that are making people think twice about their spending.

Record-high inflation, which reached 15.6 percent in Poland in June, for example, is being fueled by a surge in energy prices, largely due to the Russian invasion that began on February 24.

“We’re seeing a little less interest in helping now than when the war started,” said Eszter Bakondi-Kiss, a volunteer with Hungary’s Habitat for Humanity group, which coordinates refugee shelters.

“We got a lot more offers or applications to join those programs back then,” she told AFP.

Nearly five months into the conflict, those helping Ukrainian refugees are seeing a slowdown in aid efforts as the region grapples with rising living costs.

– economic problems –

In neighboring Slovakia, donations by the People In Need aid group fell from 650,000 euros ($661,000) in February and March to 85,000 euros in May, spokeswoman Simona Stiskalova said.

“It’s only natural. When things get hot, there is interest at first and then that interest fades away,” said Svilena Georgieva, director of the Bulgarian Za Dobroto Foundation.

“But 90 percent of the funds we receive are still for the Ukraine campaign,” she told AFP.

For the Prague sociologist Daniel Prokop, the number of people at risk of poverty is growing.

“And there could be concerns that helping Ukraine would actually overshadow helping local people,” he told AFP.

Klara Splichalova, head of the Prague Donors Forum, said that while donations were larger at the start of the war, the inflow of funds was far from drying up.

“And since there doesn’t seem to be a peaceful solution in sight, people are aware that it is necessary to provide long-term and ongoing help.”

Lavinia Varodi, from the Save the Children Fund in Romania, said individuals and companies are giving less because they “have used up their budget”.

“What remains are organizations that are larger and provide special funds for this category,” she told AFP news agency.

Agnes Baranyai, a volunteer at a Budapest refugee center, attributed part of the reduced willingness to help to the summer holidays.

– Changing needs –

“Everyone wants a little bit of back to their own lives,” she said.

Another factor was fewer arriving refugees.

“The will to help remains the same, but the needs are changing,” says Dominika Pszczolkowska, a migration researcher at the University of Warsaw.

“Ukrainians are now trying to integrate into the labor market and they are not looking for social benefits, which is appreciated by Poles,” she told AFP news agency.

Almost 300,000 Ukrainian war refugees have found work in Poland, albeit often below their educational or skill levels.

Poland has taken in a total of 4.5 million refugees, some of whom have stayed and others have moved to other countries.

“Ukrainian citizens who came to Poland because of the war are filling the gaps in certain sectors,” Poland’s Family Ministry said on Friday.

The smaller Czech Republic has given work to 77,000 of nearly 400,000 Ukrainian refugees.

They include a mother of two from Odessa who was taken in shortly after the Hrytskiv invasion and now works in a bakery in another city.

“Companies don’t want to give them long-term contracts, which is a bit problematic, but they give them jobs right away,” said Hrytskiv, who is now hosting another refugee.

“I’m always ready to start the car and help. I can see how grateful they are and that is the best reward.”

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