Director general of Terre des Hommes, Barbara Hintermann, met with Budapest’s local authorities in early May to discuss how to address the Ukrainian refugee crisis. (Credit: Courtesy of TdH)

The number of refugees leaving Ukraine since the beginning of Russia’s invasion has surpassed the six million mark, according to UN figures. The vast majority have crossed over to neighbouring countries, including Poland, Romania and Moldova.

Hungary has said it has received over half a million people from Ukraine, a claim that even the UN is having trouble verifying. Prime minister Viktor Orban’s immigration laws restricting access to asylum have put the far-right leader at odds with the European Union and the UN Refugee Agency before. Hungary has also been accused of double standards as it keeps a tight border with Serbia to keep non-EU refugees at bay.

Barbara Hintermann, director general of Terre des Hommes (TdH), travelled to Budapest two weeks ago, where the child relief agency has had an office for the past 15 years. The Lausanne-based international organisation spoke with Geneva Solutions about the challenges of tending to the refugee crisis in Hungary.

Over 59 million people were living in internal displacement in 2021, a new report by the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre said. New waves of violence, conflict, and climate change related disasters are the primary drivers of this record breaking number. The report focused on displaced children, who often spend their entire childhoods in displacement, depriving them of fulfilling their potential. “We need to build back hope for these children,” Egeland said.

Anna Portnova, one of the last surviving prisoners of Butugychag, with her daughter at her home in Kolyma. (Credit: Nigina Beroeva)

‘People in Russia are getting used to being afraid again’. Fear is something instilled in Russians long before 24 February and passed down from generation to generation, writes journalist Nigina Beroeva. Recalling an assignment where she visited one of the country’s most notorious Soviet prison camps, Beroeva examines the origins of Russia's legacy of fear.

Ukraine Stories #Week13: Ukraine war movies at Cannes and evacuee diaries. While sirens in Ukraine sound throughout the country and the Ukrainian Armed Forces are trying to contain the enemy's offensive in the east, Ukraine's profile is rising steadily, this time at the world’s premiere international cinema event. Plus,do not miss the many testimonies and individual stories of the war brought to you from journalists across Ukraine and Russia on the last day of this week’s blog.