We help the Ukrainian refugees – please help

Dear reader, War in Europe – hundreds of thousands fleeing. No country in Europe has been prepared for this – neither for a war, nor for so many refugees. Especially the states bordering Russia and Ukraine are not prepared to receive refugees. But the solidarity of states with Ukraine and their citizens with refugees is great.

“Refugees are still horrified by what happened. Many fled with only their identity cards. Without sleep for hours, terrified by the horrors of war, refugees say they do not know where to go. Insecurity is their biggest nightmare,” reports Gennaij Caunov, ISHR Moldova section on February 26, 2022

The ISHR is familiar with this situation. For 40 years, the ISHR has been sending truckloads with humanitarian aid to Eastern Europe: in 1981 after martial law was imposed in Poland to support persecuted Solidarity supporters, since 1990 – for victims of the Ceausescu regime in Romania, since 1992 – for victims of the Yugoslav war in Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, since 1993 – after the collapse of the Soviet Union for poor and abandoned children in Russia, Ukraine, Lithuania and Latvia, since 2020  – for oppositionists from Belarus who fled to Lithuania, Latvia and Poland. In December 2021, we reported about our 500th aid transport. We share our experience with our ISHR sections and activists in Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, Romania and Moldova. Most refugees arrive with suitcases; donations of clothes are not a priority at the moment. What is important now are the monetary donations that we need on the ground, namely for the following purposes:

– for transporting refugees, especially injured or traumatised refugees and children, to relief and medical centres;

– for the purchase of SIM cards and pre-paid cards so that refugees can keep in touch with their relatives in Ukraine;

– for hygiene items such as shampoos, toothpaste, detergents, etc., as well as underwear;

– for bandages, plasters and other medicines;

– for baby products such as diapers, baby food and childcare products;

– for lawyers who assist refugees with the necessary paperwork;

– for food needs for helpers and as first aid for newly arriving refugees.