Over the past three years, attitudes toward Ukrainian refugees in Poland have become noticeably less welcoming, according to the British newspaper The Times.
Many displaced people are being told to return to their home country. Oksana Pestrikova, a refugee aid coordinator at the Ukrainian House in Warsaw, said that Ukrainians are increasingly hearing such messages from people around them — in schools and medical facilities alike. She noted that while Poles were much more sympathetic three years ago, many Ukrainians now avoid speaking their language in public or on public transport to prevent negative reactions.
Earlier, Ukraine’s ambassador to Poland, Vasyl Bodnar, stated that about half of the Ukrainian refugees are unlikely to return to their homeland. According to various estimates, up to 1.5 million Ukrainian citizens currently reside in Poland.
