Connecting refugees fleeing the war in Ukraine

Since 24 February, nearly 12.8 million people are estimated to have been displaced in Ukraine, most of whom have not left the country. According to the most recent estimates, more than 6.5 million people are internally displaced as a result of the conflict, which is equivalent to 17.5 percent of the entire population. TSF has started the installation of a free Wi-Fi connectivity in collective centres for Internally Displaced People (IDPs) in Vinnytsia. Although some centres are connected to the internet, they generally do not have the means to distribute this connectivity to the dozens of people who are being housed indefinitely.Our local team has chosen the 3 most critical collective centres in terms of Internet availability among all the temporary accommodation centers for IDPs in Vinnytsia. This connection allows almost 500 people in these 3 centres to remain in contact with their families and look for relevant information online. Moreover, in this kind of humanitarian crises, access to education for children and youth is often interrupted and precarious. The connection installed by TSF allows also children to continue their education remotely.

Besides IDP’s, there are more than 7.5 million refugees from Ukraine that have already been recorded across Europe. Thousands of them whom have left their homes and loved ones behind. Thousands of them whom are just looking to get to a safe place and, to do that, they have been using the bus convoy set up by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) to safely bring refugees from Palanca, on the Moldovan-Ukrainian border, to Bucharest. TSF installed a free Wi-Fi connection on all the buses of the convoy. This connectivity allowed more than 7,700 refugees to contact their relatives remained in Ukraine through instant messaging apps or social media, to find the strength to continue their journey (83%). It also allowed them to check the news on their home country and to look for essential information for the next steps of their journey, thus reducing their level of stress (44%). The evaluation conducted confirmed that the connection was particularly important for the refugees. 94% of those interviewed stated that the possibility to use the free Wi-Fi had a positive impact on their lives.

In these complex and most probably traumatic contexts, hearing the voice of a loved one can represent a heartwarming source of relief. The connections installed on the buses and in the shelters for IDP’s helps refugees to stay in touch with those they have left behind and to seek essential information in order to have more clarity in a situation where everything is uncertain and new to them.