Refugees in Poland

Refugees in Poland were, until 2022, a relatively small group. Since 1989, the number of people applying for refugee status in Poland has risen from about 1,000 to 10,000 each year; about 1–2% of the applications were approved. The majority of applications were citizens of the former Soviet Union (in particular, Chechnya and Ukraine).

Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022, more than 7.2 million refugees fleeing Ukraine have been recorded across Europe, with the vast majority initially fleeing to the countries closest to its western border. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), almost 1.5 million people fled to neighboring Poland.^[1][2]