UN: 10 million Ukrainians become refugees

Some 10 million Ukrainians have become refugees.

“Ten million Ukrainians have become refugees and internally displaced people, and most of them cannot return home yet,” UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi told the Japan Broadcasting Corporation NHK.

Grandi noted that 6.3 million people left abroad, 3.7 million people were evacuated from the combat zone to other Ukrainian regions.

According to the UN, 2.5 million people are still unable to return home due to the dangerous situation.

“We need support to restore their lives until people find work again and rebuild their destroyed houses,” Grandi said, addressing the leaders of countries and the heads of the non-governmental organisations.

The UN Refugee Agency has already assisted in the reconstruction of 27,500 houses destroyed as a result of hostilities.

Grandi noted that the work is complicated because the buildings are restored in parallel with the destruction of new ones.