BUFFALO, N.Y. — Since February 24, over 2.5 million Ukrainian refugees have fled to neighboring countries like Poland and Moldova to escape Russian attacks. As the crisis grows more severe by the week, the United States could soon see citizens of the country seeking refuge in New York and other states.

The International Institute of Buffalo is one organization that helps resettle refugee populations, and under typical circumstances, that process would take a considerable amount of time.

What You Need To Know

  • The Department of Homeland Security designated Ukraine for temporary protected status, which will aid refugees in coming to America

  • New York state could be a destination for Ukrainian refugees, as the region has the largest Ukrainian American population in the nation

  • The International Institute of Buffalo is monitoring the Ukraine crisis while working to settle other refugee populations

“It’s usually the case that when a refugee population is created due to a traumatic event, we don’t get people immediately,” said International Institute of Buffalo interim executive director Jennifer Rizzo-Choi. “It’s usually a year or more before refugees come in and resettle. And that’s because a whole bunch of processes have to happen overseas and in international law before that essential refugee pipeline gets set up to bring people into our resettlement processes.”

The Ukrainian conflict may be an exceptional case, with New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announcing on March 4 that the state is prepared to welcome Ukrainian refugees. The Department of Homeland Security granted those refugees temporary protected status to make it easier for them to come to the U.S.

With New York being home to the largest Ukrainian American population in the country, this wouldn’t be the first time the region has helped refugees from the country get acclimated in America.

The International Institute of Buffalo helped settle Ukrainian refugees in the city once before, shortly after the Chernobyl disaster of 1986.

“About a year or so after that, there were refugees who were displaced from Ukraine, and some of them came to Buffalo and we resettled them and provided the same social services that we do today for refugee populations that come in,” Rizzo-Choi said. “So, my guess is that Buffalo’s Ukrainian community is a mix of some of those former refugees from that era and then also immigrants who have come here to make Buffalo home.”

The institute has been busy over the past year, resettling nearly 200 refugees since November, most of those from Afghanistan after the country was devastated by the Taliban. Those invested in the current crisis can have a hand in helping by aiding refugee populations that are already settling in the region.

“If you’re upset and you want to get involved and help, I would encourage you to donate or volunteer with our organization,” Rizzo-Choi said. “Because there are a lot of refugees that we’re currently resettling at this moment that have come in from other groups that are people who weren’t able to go back to their own homeland.”