Egyptian Red Crescent Establishes Relief Center at Romania-Ukraine Border

Egypt’s Red Crescent (ERC) announced on their official Facebook page on 14 March, that a relief center was established at the Ukrainian-Romanian border to provide aid to Egyptians and Arabs fleeing the war in Ukraine. The relief center was set up with the help of the Romanian Red Cross in Siret, Romania, which serves as a border crossing.

Besides supporting Egyptians in safely returning to their home country, the ERC hopes to provide medical assistance, meals, and psychological support through their relief center. The swift action taken to set up the ERC relief center was in response to the messages and requests sent by Egyptians stranded in Ukraine.

“We were able to reach the Egyptians through our communication lines and dealt with 2,000 reports, and the second step was to send the first relief team to Romania in cooperation with the relevant state agencies,” the executive director of ERC, Ramy El-Nazer, said on the talk show Min Misr (From Egypt).

“Our objective was clear: to reach the Egyptians by the Ukrainian border and assist Egyptians and the Arab people,” El-Nazer continued. He also added that there was another ERC relief center established in Poland to assist more Egyptians looking to return.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine on 24 February has triggered a wave of expatriates surging to cross borders and flee the warfare. Egyptians made up for about 6,000 of the expatriate population, with around 3,000 of them being students.

Since the start of the invasion, thousands of Egyptians have been safely flown back to Egypt with the help of the Ministry of Emigration. However, hundreds of other Egyptians have opted to cross borders into Romania, Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary. The relief point has been prepared under the supervision of the Egyptian International Team and the assistance of Egyptian volunteers residing in Romania.