Czech Republic sends more aid to eastern Ukraine as humanitarian crisis deepens

The eyes of the world are on eastern Ukraine, where isolated skirmishes have underscored the fragility of the Minsk peace deal which went into effect at midnight on Saturday. Meanwhile, humanitarian aid continues to flow to the war-stricken area where tens of thousands of displaced families are in dire need. On Monday morning the Czech government, the Czech Red Cross and the NGO People in Need dispatched another humanitarian aid convoy to the region.

Czech humanitarian aid convoy in Zbiroh, photo: CTK

Four trucks packed with humanitarian aid supplies, an ambulance and several more vehicles rolled out of the west Bohemian town of Zbiroh on Monday on the two-thousand kilometer journey first to Kiev and then to the war-stricken regions of eastern Ukraine. They were packed with medical kits, blankets, warm clothing, sleeping bags and even roofing material to help in the reconstruction of war damaged houses. The assistance, worth eight million crowns, is provided by the Czech government and will be distributed by the NGO People in Need which has provided humanitarian aid to eastern Ukraine for months and has offices and warehouses in the areas of Slavyansk and Doneck. Ivo Dokoupil, who is Aid Coordinator for the region, is travelling with the humanitarian aid convoy. He says intensified fighting in recent weeks has drastically worsened the humanitarian situation in the area.

Ivo Dokoupil, photo: Alžběta Švarcová

“There is a growing number of displaced people and there’s nowhere to put them. So they are camping out in railway stations, and literally living in train carriages. We are trying to make sure that that they have shelter, hot food and warm drinks in order to survive the ordeal in the cold weather and we are struggling to expand the number of refugee centers as quickly as possible. Our NGO is already preparing another convoy with sleeping bags and blankets which should leave in a week’s time. We started setting up refugee centers in the region in September in view of the oncoming winter but the need for more has suddenly become pressing as a result of the intensified fighting.”

The NGO People in Need has 30 local employees in its Slavyansk office, who cover the Donetsk and Luhansk regions –travelling to war stricken places, distributing aid, handing out medicine and monitoring immediate needs. Ivo Dokoupil says that over the past six months many people in the region have become virtual prisoners in their own homes – hiding out in cellars, without food and without money because most services have collapsed. He says this is a crisis that will take months to resolve at best.

“Assuming the fragile peace deal holds, Ukraine will urgently need help for several more months –it is now on the brink of a humanitarian disaster. Infrastructure in the war-torn areas is badly damaged and even if people start returning to their homes as soon as they can it will take them a long time to get their lives back to normal. That’s the best case scenario. But there is the possibility that the ceasefire will not hold and even isolated military skirmishes would severely disrupt their chances of leading a normal life, people would not return to work, banks and schools would remain closed, the area would remain paralyzed and the situation would only get worse.”

Donetsk, Ukraine, photo: CTK

Since the conflict broke out, the Czech Republic has provided humanitarian aid to Ukraine to the tune of 100 million crowns. The means of providing humanitarian assistance include health stays for Ukrainian children here in the Czech Republic. According to Foreign Minister Lubomír Zaorálek further aid will be provided in accordance with developments and people’s needs.