Connecting refugees fleeing the war in Ukraine

Since 24 February, nearly 12.8 million people are estimated to have been displaced in Ukraine, most of whom have not left the country. According to the most recent estimates, more than 6.5 million people are internally displaced as a result of the conflict, which is equivalent to 17.5 percent of the entire population. TSF has started the installation of a free Wi-Fi connectivity in collective centres for Internally Displaced People (IDPs) in Vinnytsia. Although some centres are connected to the internet, they generally do not have the means to distribute this connectivity to the dozens of people who are being housed indefinitely.Our local team has chosen the 3 most critical collective centres in terms of Internet availability among all the temporary accommodation centers for IDPs in Vinnytsia. This connection allows almost 500 people in these 3 centres to remain in contact with their families and look for relevant information online. Moreover, in this kind of humanitarian crises, access to education for children and youth is often interrupted and precarious. The connection installed by TSF allows also children to continue their education remotely.

Besides IDP’s, there are more than 7.5 million refugees from Ukraine that have already been recorded across Europe. Thousands of them whom have left their homes and loved ones behind. Thousands of them whom are just looking to get to a safe place and, to do that, they have been using the bus convoy set up by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) to safely bring refugees from Palanca, on the Moldovan-Ukrainian border, to Bucharest. TSF installed a free Wi-Fi connection on all the buses of the convoy. This connectivity allowed more than 7,700 refugees to contact their relatives remained in Ukraine through instant messaging apps or social media, to find the strength to continue their journey (83%). It also allowed them to check the news on their home country and to look for essential information for the next steps of their journey, thus reducing their level of stress (44%). The evaluation conducted confirmed that the connection was particularly important for the refugees. 94% of those interviewed stated that the possibility to use the free Wi-Fi had a positive impact on their lives.

In these complex and most probably traumatic contexts, hearing the voice of a loved one can represent a heartwarming source of relief. The connections installed on the buses and in the shelters for IDP’s helps refugees to stay in touch with those they have left behind and to seek essential information in order to have more clarity in a situation where everything is uncertain and new to them.

Over 5 million refugees from Ukraine have already been recorded across Europe. Thousands of them have been using the bus convoy set up by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) to safely bring refugees from Palanca, on the Moldovan-Ukrainian border, to Bucharest, Romania.

By taking the bus with them, we have the opportunity to talk to each of them, to listen to their stories, to see their looks, sometimes tired, sometimes full of hope. Their stories are all different, but they all have one element in common: the simple desire to continue their lives, to see the war end, to realise their dreams, in peace.

Petro and Ivanna (all the names in the report have been changed to protect their identity) had chosen to leave Kiev to live out their retirement in the sunny Odessa. This retired couple forced to leave their country, are now trying to reach Spain in order to end their days in peace.

We meet the family who found themselves living in a neighbourhood where there was no water or electricity. "Without electricity it was hard, but it was still OK," they tell us, "but as soon as the water was gone, it became very complicated.” In addition to the material damage, the bombings sometimes have much more severe consequences. Their youngest child hadn't been able to sleep for weeks, waking up in panic during the night. This is when the decision to leave their country has taken shape, because their lives couldn’t continue like this. Talking to the other members of the family, we realise that they are just a family like any other. A child who is a Youtuber and a video game enthusiast, the daughter with whom we discover that we like the same music and we know the same bands. The family now heads to Prague, once again, to try to continue their lives, in peace.

Ivan, the sailor from the merchant navy who wants to join his friends in Lithuania. He run to cross the border and avoid being drafted into the army, "because my thing is boats, not guns", he tells us. Ahmet, a Turk, who is trying to join his sister in Germany to continue studying. Aurelia, a Russian translator from Odessa, who has decided to stay in Husi, to help as a translator. She shows us all the pictures she has on her phone of Odessa, its beach, its monuments. She tells us that for her the sky is always bluer in Odessa.

About 16 hours of travel separate them from a possible new beginning. Yet another journey on top of the fatigue, the worry, the days and weeks spent in dangerous conditions before being able to cross the border. Throughout this journey, the free Wi-Fi connection provided by TSF on the bus helps Petro, Ivanna, Ivan, Ahmet, and all the others to stay in touch with those they have left behind, to find the strength to continue their journey. The connection also allows them to follow the news from their country, and to seek information for the next steps in this journey to a life as new and normal as possible and make this part of their exile a little bit less difficult.