Last week, Enniskillen photographer Ronan McGrade travelled to the Poland-Ukraine border to document the surging refugee crisis there, with two million people now having fled Ukraine – Europe’s largest refugee crisis since World War 2.
Speaking to The Impartial Reporter, Ronan talked about his experience after spending four days in the border area photographing Ukrainian families as they made the traumatic journey from their war-torn home to seek refuge in Poland.
When Ronan first arrived in Poland, he travelled to the city of Kielce, which is halfway between Krakow and Warsaw.
There he met with Gareth McKinney from Fermanagh, who runs an English language-speaking school in the city. He was there for half a day, then spent the rest of his time in the border area.
“Immediately at the border there were people crossing on foot, in cars and there were also bus-loads of people,” said Ronan, giving an idea of the quantity of people fleeing Ukraine.
Families made up largely of women and children arrive at Przemysl refugee reception centre in Poland after crossing the border from Ukraine. Picture: Ronan McGrade
“It was shocking initially to see mothers pushing kids and all the rest of their belongings in shopping trolleys. There were upset kids in tears, mothers trying to console them.”
The Ukrainian government’s banning of most males from leaving the country, except under certain specific circumstances, meant there were few males in the relentless one-way flow of waves of passing refugees.
Comparing the atmosphere on the Poland-Ukraine Border as being similar to that of a wake, Ronan described it as “very sombre” and “almost muted”.
He added: “There were people having hushed conversations – it was just quite muted.”
At the refugee reception centre in Przemysl an elderly Ukrainian woman is overcome with emotion and anger as she shouts "Putin! Putin! Putin!" through her tears. Picture: Ronan McGrade
Observing the refugee crisis first-hand, Ronan noted how it was particularly heartbreaking seeing the impact on Ukrainian children.
“It was heartbreaking, because the kids were confused. Some of them were visibly upset; other kids, even though they could tell something wasn’t quite right, they came across as quite happy,” he said.
Picture: Ronan McGrade
“You would see some kids playing with their teddies, looking quite normal, but then when you looked at their parents sitting beside them, you could tell it was the parents shouldering the burden of the situation, because they were completely ashen in their complexion.
“They were just sick with worry,” Ronan told this newspaper.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here