Half of Ukrainian children who have been forced to flee their country by Russia’s military offensive suffer from anxiety or are worried about what the future may hold, according to a report by the NGO Save the Children, which calls on the international community to take these mental health needs into account.
The study, based on more than 1,000 interviews in eight European countries – Finland, Italy, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania and Sweden – highlights the urgent needs of a particularly vulnerable group: of the 7.7 million people who have left Ukraine, 40 percent are minors.
Half of those interviewed feel more anxious since fleeing Ukraine, although if only those aged 16 and over are examined, the figure rises to 78 percent. Fifty-seven percent believe that their situation would improve with friends, 56 percent if they could pursue a hobby and 54 percent if they learned the local language.
«I feel a bit uncomfortable here. I don’t have my friends or my classmates. Most people my age don’t speak English, so I can’t communicate with them,» says Ana, 15, in a statement released by the organization.
Save the Children has warned that school enrollment rates remain «worryingly low,» despite the fact that refugees who go to school are less likely to feel lonely. A quarter of the children did not plan to enroll in a local school, which for the NGO’s Europe director, Ylva Sperling, partly overshadows the «warm welcome» offered to Ukrainian families.
In Poland, for example, the report finds that only 41 percent of Ukrainian children are enrolled in local schools. The Ukrainian authorities maintain an online learning system open to those who have been forced to leave the country.
Thirteen-year-old Andriy says he went to a school in Lithuania for two weeks, «but there weren’t many teachers who could speak Russian». He opted to return to telematic classes from Ukraine, while lamenting that he wishes he could have more Lithuanian friends.
