HIAS is closely monitoring the situation in Ukraine and neighboring countries and is responding with emergency humanitarian assistance to those who are displaced.
A HIAS response team was in Poland and is now in Ukraine assessing ways it can assist Ukrainians — both Jews and others — as they cross into Poland and other neighboring countries.
There is much concern for the safety of the 162 staff of HIAS’ long-time partner on the ground in Ukraine, Right to Protection (R2P), who have aided refugees and displaced persons since 2013. HIAS has rushed emergency funding to R2P to assist their response. R2P is an independent NGO based in Kyiv with offices across Ukraine, including in government-controlled areas of Donbas, East Ukraine. R2P specialists work in 10 cities providing legal assistance, monitoring and advocating for internally displaced people (IDPs); refugees; asylum seekers; and stateless persons. The UN Refugee Agency reports that more than 2.8 million refugees fled Ukraine since the war began. UNHCR estimates that in Ukraine there were already at least 1.6 million conflict-affected persons, including 734,000 internally displaced people; nearly 36,000 stateless persons; and nearly 5,000 refugees and asylum seekers.