Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 23 March 2022

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs

EU Response to the Humanitarian Situation in Ukraine: Engagement with Ambassador of Slovakia

H.E. Mr. Igor Pokojný:

Regarding how many refugees are still in Slovakia, we only have an estimation of about 10%. We do not have the exact figure.

Regarding accompanied or unaccompanied minors, I do not have any information. I believe there is such information but I do not have it right now so I cannot help with that. There was a photo of a boy of about 10 years of age, who was unaccompanied. It went through Twitter all over the world. He had only a phone number and his name written on his hand. He was received by Slovakia and, in a few days, the Slovak authorities were able to find his family living in Europe. They are already together. That is not an answer to the question. There are such issues. There are many unaccompanied minors but we are doing what we can. The good thing is that the registering process is a good one. No one can enter without us knowing who he or she is or where he or she is going, but I do not know the exact figure.

Regarding NGOs, crisis management is working in every country. We had plans with crisis management from day one. I highlight the role of NGOs. In the first days, they played a huge role. Then the state agencies and organisations came in and it all started like a fluent mechanism. NGOs are important in any humanitarian crisis. I am not saying it is most of them but a huge number of volunteers are not working with NGOs but just coming, bringing humanitarian aid and coming with their cars. They are asking: "Have you somewhere to sleep?" and are saying "Come on, you can stay with me." It is not that they just come and pick someone up and choose someone to stay with them. It is a process. You cannot just come to pick up a person. There is a mechanism for this.

The question was about NGOs. Yes, they are very important. They played and will play a huge role in this.

Comments

No comments

Log in or join to post a public comment.