BUCHAREST, Romania — The United Nations reports 4.2 million people have left Ukraine since Russian troops invaded in February.
In many cases, women and children have become refugees in bordering countries while men stayed behind. An Indianapolis man is part of the Salvation Army's response to the refugee crisis in Romania.
Major Mike McKee is the Salvation Army Indiana Division’s top emergency disaster services official. He arrived in Bucharest March 23. McKee meets with about 200 families a day at the Rome Expo, which serves as a relief site and emergency shelter. Most of the refugees are women with their children who fled the war in Ukraine.
"Some of them have contact with their husbands and family members who are still there,” said McKee, speaking by Zoom from his hotel in Bucharest. “Some of them don't. They're in a strange place. They're putting on a brave face, but it's sad."
The United Nations reports 648,410 Ukrainians have crossed the border into Romania. The Salvation Army is providing vouchers that can be used to purchase food and clothing.
"You look them in the eye and say, ‘We are so, so sorry that you're going through this, and this is to help you along your way and know that there are people all over the world that are praying for you and people that care about you.' Tears in their eyes is common," said McKee. “One lady yesterday said to us, 'May your skies be peaceful,' which we take as a reference to the fact that they've just escaped places where they're being bombed. So that kind of gets a little frog in your throat."
McKee's team also tries to prevent human trafficking.
"This is, as you would imagine, just a target rich environment and lots of vulnerable women and children,” said McKee. “So, we're giving them some awareness things, some tips, some phone numbers to call, some places to go."
McKee said most refugees plan to return to Ukraine. Some are already going back while the war continues.
"It's gone on too long,” said McKee. “I don't see the reason for it. I don't see why these beautiful people are being displaced, why they're in anguish over their family back home and wondering what they're going to find when they return home."
McKee will be in Romania through May 8. Donations can be made through the Salvation Army's website.
McKee has 28 years with the Salvation Army, working with refugees and communities torn apart by human-made events. He has served refugees of the civil war in northern Uganda and post-genocide refugees in Rwanda, worked in southern Iraq during the second Gulf War to provide cooking gas and food to civilians and assisted with Kosovo refugees in Albania. McKee also served several deployments in New York City after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks as a chaplain at Ground Zero and as The Salvation Army’s liaison with the city government.