Ukraine: UN warns number of displaced persons and refugees on the rise

The number of people fleeing their homes in Ukraine continues to rise, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

“More than 1.3 million people are now internally displaced, making it the ninth largest internally displaced population in the world, and some 890,000 people have fled to neighbouring countries,” said a UN spokesperson today.

According to OCHA’s latest update, no crossing points are available for humanitarian cargo to non-government controlled areas of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts.

“Access to water remains a critical issue for many civilians living along the contact line, up to 1 million people being at risk of lack of access to safe water,” pointed the update from June 12.

Funding for humanitarian operations remains critically low: only 31 per cent of $316 million required for 2015 is funded or pledged.

Several locations across the contact line continue to be theatre of fighting, resulting in additional humanitarian suffering and loss of lives. Since the beginning of the conflict, at least 6,500 people have been documented as killed and another 16,287 as wounded in the conflict zone of eastern Ukraine, OCHA emphasized.