Poland curtails aid programs for Ukrainian refugees

View of the Świętokrzyski Bridge over the Vistula River in Warsaw. File photoWARSAW, July 1Poland is gradually curtailing assistance programs for Ukrainian refugees. Since the beginning of the Russian special military operation, more than 4.3 million people have arrived in Poland from Ukraine. About 1.5 million of them still remain in the country. Immediately after the start of this flow of refugees, Warsaw launched several assistance programs for them. In addition to humanitarian, in some large cities of the republic they made public transport and trains free for citizens of Ukraine, residents of Poland who received Ukrainians in their homes began to pay 40 zlotys (about nine dollars) per day per person. The latest assistance program was originally designed for 60 days, but it was extended for another 60 days. Today it ends. By stopping paying benefits to citizens who have sheltered refugees, the authorities are counting on the fact that Ukrainians will start working and be able to support themselves. Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs and Administration of the Republic, Government Commissioner for Refugees Pavel Shefernaker said that he proceeds from the fact that «many are able to adapt and earn money on their own.» jpg» />Telegraph: humanitarian aid is stolen and resold in UkraineAccording to it, about 500 thousand Ukrainian refugees who received a PESEL number (individual personal number) are people of working age, and more than 250 thousand of them have already started legal work. Nevertheless, local authorities will be able to extend the payment of benefits if people who were accepted by the inhabitants of Poland cannot work: disabled people, pensioners, pregnant women, women with children under one year old and with three or more children. Also in Poland, the period of free travel for citizens of Ukraine ends, in particular on PKP trains Intercity. «The current rules for issuing free tickets for refugees from Ukraine will be valid until Thursday, June 30. From Friday, July 1, these trips will be carried out on the general basis provided for by the carrier's rules,» the company reports. In Warsaw, free travel was canceled for another month back.The West is waiting for global hunger riotsAt the same time, seven out of ten Poles want Ukrainian refugees in the country to earn a living themselves, according to the results of a sociological survey conducted by the IBRiS laboratory. Respondents were asked the question on what conditions Ukrainian refugees could stay in Poland, regardless on how long the Russian special operation will continue. Several answers could be chosen. The vast majority (70.4 percent) answered that Ukrainians must find a job in order to stay in Poland, 38.7 percent indicated the need to send their children to Polish schools, 27.6 percent of respondents said that Ukrainians should learn Polish, and 12.1 percent believe that refugees should buy housing in Poland in order to stay. we found it difficult to answer the question.