Reception centre at Torwar arena to close as less refugees seek shelter

Since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, the fighting has displaced more than 10 million people and forced more than 4 million to flee abroad, in Europe's biggest refugee crisis since the end of World War Two, according to the U.N. refugee agency. More than 2.52 million people have fled through Poland, according to the Polish border guard service. The number of people crossing from Ukraine stabilised at around 20,000 daily in April, compared with more than 140,000 in early March. "Due to the observed significant decrease in the inflow of refugees from Ukraine, and thus the decreasing number of people staying at the COS Torwar reception centre, the regional governor decided to terminate the operation of this centre from Friday," his office said in a statement.

In the last few days the number of people staying at the centre fell to around 100 out of 500 available places. Those remaining would be moved to other temporary accommodation, it said, adding that out of more than 30,000 beds prepared by the province, more than 15,000 remained unoccupied. A spokesperson at the largest reception centre near Warsaw said the number of people staying there fell to around 4,000-5,000 this week, from more than 10,000 at the height of the crisis, with many refugees staying for just a few days before boarding buses taking them onward to Western Europe. Others managed to find more convenient longer-term accommodation in Poland, and some decide to go back home to Ukraine.