Challenges of Accessibility: Experience of Receiving Ukrainian War Refugees With Disabilities in Poland and Romania

Abstract

The Russian attack on Ukraine in February 2022 resulted in an influx of refugees fleeing from the war, many of whom fled to Poland and Romania. This flow brought a considerable number of people with disabilities, both adults and children, who needed various kinds of support: accommodation, medicine, material aid, rehabilitation, and psychological help. EU's Directive 2001/55/EC, followed by national bills, provided a general framework in which all refugees, including Ukrainian War refugees with a disability (UWRwD) have formal access to social services, but did not automatically ensure substantive accessibility. This article analyses the barriers faced by UWRwD in accessing services in host countries, as well as the solutions implemented by service providers in Bucharest and Warsaw to reach these groups. The interplay of structural, situational, and individual factors influencing service provision and access is discussed, using two sets of qualitative data: 41 individual interviews conducted with service providers in Bucharest (20) and Warsaw (21) in 2023, and two group interviews conducted with UWRwD in Bucharest (8 participants) and Warsaw (7 participants) in December 2024. Findings suggest that accessibility is an omitted aspect in emergency response. While challenges are structural, reinforced by the arrival of a high number of refugees with disabilities, solutions are situational. Given the specificities of each refugee with disabilities, as well as a lack of clear regulations to govern intervention, service provision relied heavily on case‐by‐case responses, communication between actors, and the use of pre‐existing personal and professional networks. The results show that emergency response should be multilayered and intersectional, ensuring the needs of the most vulnerable groups are met.