Warsaw population grows by 15 pct owing to refugees
The population of Warsaw has increased by 15 percent over the past 50 days due to the influx of war refugees from Ukraine, the city's mayor has said.
Rafal Trzaskowski said on Thursday that the inflow of Ukrainians, mainly women and children, involved serious additional expenditure on the city's public transport, waste management and water supply.
According to City Hall estimates presented by Trzaskowski, some 700,000 Ukrainian refugees have passed through Warsaw since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24. Of those, 300,000 are now living in the Polish capital and neighbouring municipalities.
About 90,000 refugees have obtained the Polish ID number (PESEL) needed to access jobs, schools and the education system.
Some 17,000 Ukrainian children and youth attend Warsaw schools, Trzaskowski said.
Since the start of the war in Ukraine, 2.89 million people have crossed the Polish-Ukrainian border into Poland, the Border Guard tweeted on Thursday morning.
