Polish volunteers worry Ukraine refugee wave may become overwhelming

By Anna Wlodarczak-Semczuk

WARSAW (Reuters) - Grzegorz Patyk and nearly two dozen friends started driving Ukrainian refugees between the Polish border and temporary housing a day after Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb 24.

A translator from the southern Polish city of Krakow, he is one of the thousands of Poles who have jumped in to help the swelling wave of people fleeing war, by offering places to stay, transportation, food or even laundry or babysitting services.

But Patyk, 40, is worried that volunteers are becoming overwhelmed, after nearly 1.5 million people have crossed into Poland as Russia continues to shell cities across Ukraine.

"The scale is huge ... and it's not a question of whether the Polish people want to help or not, it's a question of whether they still can. Resources are running out," Patyk said.

The U.N. Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has warned Europe's success in absorbing the more than 2 million people who have left Ukraine so far stems largely from the fact that many have found shelter with the big Ukrainian diaspora around the continent.

But the diaspora's capacity to take in new arrivals could run out, leaving many stuck at crowded reception centres that have cropped up along Ukraine's border with central Europe.

Speaking at the crowded main hall of Warsaw central train station, where he had just a brought a family trying to get to northern Poland, Patyk said he believed his hometown of Krakow had run out of accommodation.

"There is no space there anymore," he said, as volunteers handed out sandwiches wrapped in wax paper nearby.

Krakow authorities have said the city still had temporary beds available but more permanent spaces were gone, according to RMF24 radio station.

In Warsaw, which has seen a quarter of a million refugees come through in the last two weeks, the biggest temporary reception centre was about 70% full. People usually stay there a night or two before heading on.

"NONE OF US ARE READY FOR THIS"

Waiting for the family he brought from the border to buy train tickets for their onward journey and fill paperwork, Patyk spoke about seeing his wife only during the day, while he spent nights helping refugees, and about a growing sense of chaos.

"In the beginning everything was running very smoothly, people took in refugees, they volunteered ... but now (private) accommodation is running out ... and we are looking for spaces and the (local authority) coordinators switch off their phones at night."

The Polish government proposed a law this week allowing people who house refugees to claim 8.3 euros per day per person.

It is also preparing a 1.6 billion euro fund to help refugees, and has mobilised police, fire fighters and other services to distribute aid. But volunteers say private donations are still fuelling a significant part of the immediate support.

Michal Wilczewski, who calls himself a social media influencer, says he's been coordinating food distribution at Warsaw train station, supplying sandwiches and ready-to-eat meals brought by private people and some restaurants.

"We just got a group of friends together ... scheduled three shifts a day," he said. "None of us are ready for this, and we cannot predict if we end up needing 500 or 5,000 meals a day."

He said the government was doing more now than initially to help coordinate support for Ukrainians, like putting up a heated tent close to the station were meals can be served, but he worries the steady of stream of donations could dry up soon.

"People are just cooking, paying for it with their own money, but these funds or their resolve to help will end."

European Union officials have said the bloc could see the arrival of about five million people.

(Writing by Justyna Pawlak; editing by William Maclean)