Refugees from Ukraine wait in a welcome centre set up in the Przemysl train station in Poland on Feb. 26.Anna Liminowicz/The Globe and Mail
Canada is providing $100-million to the United Nations to support aid operations in Ukraine and refugees fleeing the Russian invasion, International Development Minister Harjit Sajjan announced, as he called on Russia to ensure humanitarian access to Ukraine.
Mr. Sajjan spoke on the new Canadian funding during a virtual address to the UN Tuesday, shortly after the multilateral agency issued an urgent flash appeal for the Ukrainian crisis. The UN is asking for US$1.7-billion to help address urgent humanitarian needs in Ukraine and surrounding countries, as hundreds of thousands of refugees pour across the border.
Speaking to The Globe and Mail Tuesday, Mr. Sajjan said Russia is required under international humanitarian law to provide aid access to Ukraine.
“International law requires any nation to make sure that humanitarian aid gets to the civilian population. So I am hopeful that Russia will abide by international law. The images that we have seen in terms of indiscriminate bombing are obviously deeply concerning,” said Mr. Sajjan.
During his address to the UN, Mr. Sajjan said Canada stands “shoulder to shoulder” with Ukraine in the face of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “naked, territorial aggression.” He said the decisions that the world takes in the coming weeks and months will shape the world for future generations.
Approximately 677,000 Ukrainian refugees have fled the violence in the past five days, according to the UN, which anticipates that more than four million Ukrainians may need refugee protection in the coming months. It estimates another 12 million people inside Ukraine will need relief and protection.
The UN appeal asks for two amounts, including US$1.1-billion to assist six million people inside Ukraine for an initial three months. This will provide cash assistance, food, water, sanitation, support for health care and education services, and shelter assistance to rebuild damaged homes. It also aims to maintain and establish transit and reception centres for displaced people and prevent gender-based violence in Ukraine.
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The UN is requesting another US$550.6-million to help Poland, Moldova, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia and other countries in the region provide shelter, emergency relief items, cash assistance, and psychosocial support to Ukrainian refugees, including unaccompanied children.
Rema Jamous, the Canadian representative for the United Nations refugee agency, welcomed the government’s “swift and very generous” contribution to the UN. She said UN teams are not having any issues providing humanitarian support in border regions, but are facing challenges in Ukraine.
“You still have active hostilities under way and our colleagues are in places where the military offensive continues and so they’re subject to movement restrictions. They’re having to also take cover in bomb shelters and observe curfews, so we are not able to get out there and do what is we want to do, which is to immediately assess what the humanitarian needs are and then be able to respond very quickly,” said Ms. Jamous.
Alexandra Chyczij, president of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress, said the community is grateful to Canada for its pledge.
“The Russian regime’s systematic war crimes and crimes against humanity are causing a humanitarian crisis not seen in Europe since WWII,” said Ms. Chyczij.
In an interview with CNN on Monday, Samantha Power, administrator of the United States Agency for International Development, spoke about her recent visit to the Poland-Ukraine border, where she recounted seeing mostly women and children fleeing the violence in Ukraine. She said it is “acutely urgent” that humanitarian aid be able to flow into Ukraine, as stockpiles of food are running low in places such as Kyiv.
“With the population on one side of the border, you have to move people and goods in both directions. And so, getting all of that organized in really a matter of hours, not days, is essential,” said Ms. Power.
Mr. Sajjan said he is planning a visit to the region soon to visit “many” border countries, but did not provide any details for security reasons. Canada is sending an international humanitarian team to the region to assess the needs on the ground, he said.
Last week, the federal government announced it would match donations to the Canadian Red Cross’s Ukraine humanitarian crisis appeal between Feb. 24 and March 18, up to a maximum of $10-million. The funds will support Red Cross relief efforts and other critical humanitarian activities in Ukraine and surrounding countries. Mr. Sajjan said Canadians had donated $9.5-million to the matching fund as of Monday.
Canada has provided Ukraine with nearly $1-billion in various forms of assistance since the onset of the crisis in 2014, including more than $250-million in bilateral development aid and more than $164-million in humanitarian assistance. The government has also announced $620-million in sovereign loans for Ukraine since the beginning of the year.
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