As refugee numbers soar, many haunted by terror of war

By VANESSA GERA and RENATA BRITO
Associated Press
PRZEMYSL, Poland (AP) — Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has forced more than a million people to flee in a week. It’s an exodus so swift it almost matches the number of people who sought refuge in a whole year during Europe’s 2015 migration crisis. Back then, hundreds of thousands of Syrians fled their strife-torn country. Together with people escaping fighting in Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere, they headed west. Thousands died at sea trying to reach a continent where many didn’t want them. As Russian forces inflict massive destruction on a neighboring nation today, Europeans have united in extending a helping hand. The European Union decided Thursday to grant people fleeing Ukraine temporary protection and residency permits.