No refugee camps for Ukrainians in Europe, Polish official says

Paweł Szefernaker, a Polish deputy interior minister, has argued that European countries should come up with an offer for Ukrainian refugees that would be similar to the Polish model of accommodating people fleeing the war in Ukraine.

"The refugees who are fleeing, women with children and the elderly, must know that when they reach countries in Europe other than Poland, they will be safe there and will not be put in refugee camps that existed in 2015-2016," Szefernaker told Polish Radio Three on Tuesday.

In his comment, the deputy minister was referring to a major refugee crisis in Europe, which was dominated by refugees from the Middle East and Africa fleeing military conflicts in their countries.

"In order for the relocation to make sense, it must be based on an offer for refugees from other countries in Europe," Szefernaker said.

"We have been explaining to our foreign partners that the situation is completely different from the one that Europe was dealing with for years," he added.

In this context, he praised the British initiative, where "more than 100,000 families... have said they are willing to host refugees in their own homes.

"This shows that this Polish model, so to speak... has been adopted by other countries as well," the deputy minister said.

Since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, some 2.15 million refugees have crossed the border into Poland.