Lessons From the Ukrainian Refugee Crisis

One of the very few bright spots in the last year has been the European humanitarian response to the invasion of Ukraine. According to published figures, at least 8 million Ukrainians have crossed international borders to escape the fighting in their country, while at least 6 million are internally displaced. One-third of the country's population, in other words, has been forced to leave their homes due to the Russian invasion. However, unlike so many other refugee crises, the humanitarian response has been heartwarming. Recent figures show Germany and Poland have taken in two million Ukrainian refugees; their combined total is roughly the same number of refugees that have found refuge in Russia. Germany has offered displaced Ukrainians food, shelter, medical assistance, permission to work, and financial unemployment benefits. This scale of humanitarian action far exceeds the cosmopolitan spirit of hospitality that the philosopher Immanuel Kant wrote about centuries ago, namely, the right of a stranger not to be greeted with hostility when he arrives on someone else’s territory. The warmth which Ukrainian refugees were greeted with across central Europe also reminds us of the exceptional 2015 decision by former German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, to welcome a million refugees to her country despite heated resistance from her own party and colleagues: “We can do it,” as she memorably said at the time.