Number of internally displaced persons in Ukraine down to 7.1 mln - IOM

MOSCOW. June 8 (Interfax) - Internally displaced persons (IDP) made up 16.2% (7.134 million people) of Ukraine's entire population as of May 23, 2022, as seen from the findings of a survey conducted by the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

Ukrainian media have reported this figure decreased by nearly 900,000 (11%) from May 3. This was the first decrease in the number of IDPs recorded in Ukraine after February 24, 2022.

The survey also showed that the number of people returning home after being displaced, including from abroad, has increased to reach 4.5 million as of May 23, most of them having returned to the northern part of Ukraine (1.7 million) and Kyiv (941,000).

At the same time, more than one-third of those who have returned said they still do not feel safe, and 9% of those polled are ready to leave their homes again. More than one-third of those polled in central regions of Ukraine and 21% in the northern part of the country said they need repair materials.

The survey also found that 64% of those who had jobs before they were displaced have lost them, and some 20% of those polled said they have lost incomes. Due to a shortage or significant reduction of incomes, 77% of IDPs prefer monetary support that helps them satisfy their vital needs and have access to products and services.

Among the regions that accommodated relatively more IDPs than others are the Kyiv (13%), Dnipropetrovsk (12%), Lviv (8%), Kharkiv (8%), and Poltava (7%) regions, while all the other regions have accommodated 52% of all IDPs. Most of the IDPs came from the Kharkiv region (27%), the city of Kyiv (16%), the Donetsk region (16%), the Kyiv region (9%), and the Zaporizhzhya region (7%). The other 25% were displaced from other regions of Ukraine.

The number of IDPs decreased particularly considerably in the west of Ukraine, while the number of those accommodated in the eastern part of the country has increased. The overall number of IDPs in Kyiv has declined since early May and remains low compared to other regions.

Among the adult IDPs, 64% are women and 36% men, and 73% of them have children.

The survey has found that 35% of the IDPs rented housing 33% lived with their friends or relatives, 10% at their own housing in a different region, 6% at apartments provided to them for free by strangers, 4% at collective accommodation centers, and 1% in basements and bomb shelters.

The survey of 2,001 respondents older than 18 was conducted using the computer-assisted telephone interviewing (CATI) method from May 17 to 23 in all regions except for those that had not been under Kyiv's control before February 24.

The exact share of the population not covered by the survey is unclear, and this should be taken into account in interpreting its findings. No people living outside of Ukraine were polled. The calculations are based on the premise that minors (those under 18) are accompanied by their parents or adult guardians. The sample was limited to adults using mobile phones. Residents of areas that suffered major destruction of civilian infrastructure (i.e. Kharkiv or Irpin) might have been underrepresented in the sample, the press release said.