Ukrainian refugees adjusting to life in Windsor's Polish twin city

When war broke in Ukraine nearly two years ago, Windsor's twin city in Poland was inundated with 65,000 refugees seeking emergency shelter and help.

Lublin, Poland, is near the Eastern Polish border with Ukraine. Today it is home to about 35,000 to 40,000 Ukrainians who have settled in with jobs and students who are attending school.

"Definitely we are better prepared. We have more and more students attending public schools in Lublin," said Krzysztof Stanowski, International Affairs Director of Lublin.

He said the emphasis now is on integrating the Ukrainians, who are living in homes rather than shelters and are working and paying taxes, rather than emergency relief.

"Now it's mainly about integration, about culture initiatives, about legal advisors, about psychological assistance, long term support to them," said Stanowski, in a Zoom call from Lublin.

He said the Ukrainians have been given Pesel numbers, which are similar to our Social Insurance Numbers, which allow them to work in the country.

"When you are refugee when you came from Ukraine, you can get this social security number and it makes you equal to the Polish citizen in all the services except voting rights," he said.

Stanowski says 1.4 million refugees have either gone through or moved to Lublin since the beginning of the war.

He says there are only up to 400 people at any time living in group settings such as dorms now. He says about 50 to 70 people come to Lublin weekly, and these are people coming from the war torn parts of Eastern Ukraine.

"For many of them the first building they visit is the hospital. Wounded people, civilians also soldiers, people with PTSD," he said.

Jerry Barycki is a member of the City of Windsor International Relations Committee and also the president of the Polish-Canadian Business and Professional Association in Windsor. He says Lublin has a number of programs to help Ukrainians integrate.

'Not only with relation to children, their school and all this, but also, legal advice. And they have almost 500 people who are translating," said Barycki.

Coun. Angelo Marigani is the chair of the International Relations Committee. He says they are keeping in touch with Lublin.

"So the International Relations Committee often gets updates from the sister city and we're just continuing our cooperation," said Marignani