Early contributions focused on establishing the facts - just how many Ukrainian people were already in Poland prior to Russia's attack? How many have passed through? And how many have stayed or plan to stay longer
Subsequent contributions anticipated social and economic threats in the near or distant future and discussed policy measures to counteract the risks.
What is the demographic situation?
The first part of the discussion, which took place as a Twitter Space on Wednesday, was focused on appraising the audience of the facts. Some well-known, others not so well-known or contested.
The size of the Ukrainian diaspora in Poland before Russia's attack was 1 million people according to Maciej Duszczyk, but as high as 1.4 million or more in the view of Paweł Kaczmarczyk - both at Warsaw University.
There was more certainty as to other data, for instance on the numbers of refugees passing through Warsaw, presented by Marta Pachocka from the SGH Warsaw School of Economics and drawing on Warsaw City Hall sources.
Out of the 575,000 Ukrainian and other refugees who have reached Warsaw, an estimated 280,000 to 300,000 have decided to stay, at least for now. There are now almost 130,000 children in Polish formal education, according to Dr Pachocka - the vast majority of refugees being women and children.
The current crisis and other similar crises
Marta Prochowicz-Jazowska, program coordinator of the GMF's Warsaw office, compared the current refugee crisis with others. Out of the 10 million Ukrainians who have left their homes, 4.2 million have left Ukraine with Poland receiving 58%.
By comparison, Romania has received the second largest group of refugees - 15% of the total. The flow of refugees from Ukraine, Prochowicz-Jazowska added, was five times larger than during the Yugoslavian crisis and almost three times larger than the figure for Syria.
Risks facing Ukraine, Poland and the EU
The speakers and participants attempted to identify potential demographic risks as early as possible - now. The positive situation of education and employment support from Poland and the EU also represents the risk of a "brain drain" for a future Ukraine.
Photo: PAP/Wojtek Jargiło
Many of the brightest may decide to stay on abroad rather than returning to a peaceful Ukraine. A few speakers emphasized the fact that Poland has a vested interest in a strong, democratic and prosperous Ukraine: if the Ukrainian economy is left without a skilled workforce, Russian propaganda can more easily influence the course of politics there.
Małgorzata Bos-Karczewska, the founder of polonia.nl in the Netherlands, said that while we all take our hats off to Poland for its refugee response, future action by all European countries "must be a success." Otherwise the refugee crisis can turn into an existential threat to the European Union itself.
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