KIEV, January 30. /TASS/. Another one million civilians may flee Ukraine with the second wave of migration, which began with the latest surge in hostilities in Donbas, the co-chairman of the All-Ukraine Organization for the Affairs of Forced Migrants, Oleksandr Melanchenko, said on Friday.
"In the second wave of migrants we shall see those who will be trying to get away from war. Just as the first one, it will take out of the country not only socially active people and those who need social assistance, but labour migrants in search of real jobs. There will be many adult men. In general, we expected that the second wave of migrants will follow in 4-6 months, when the general economic situation in the country gets worse. The surge in hostilities have prompted these people to act fast," Melanchenko said.
The expert believes that even when hostilities in the east of Ukraine have died down, a third wave of migration may follow. People will take to the road due to economic insolvency," he added.
Earlier, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNCHOA) said that more than 1.5 million have become forced migrants due to the conflict in Ukraine. According to the organization’s report, more than 920,000 residents of Donbas have moved to other regions of the country, while another 600,000 resettled to other countries, mostly Russia.