The International Organization for Migration surveyed 195 refugees from Ukraine living in collective accommodation in two regions of southern Poland, and found that 40 per cent reported holding a disability certificate. More than half had an older person in the household. Only 22 per cent were in work, and around 80 per cent of those in work still needed extra financial support on top of their income. IOM collected the data in Podkarpackie in April and May 2025, and in Małopolskie in October and November 2025, shortly after the rules changed on social support for Ukrainians under Temporary Protection.
Sixty-eight per cent of respondents said they were not ready to live independently, and among those aged 65 or over that rose to 87 per cent. Income was the main barrier across every age group. Health came a close second, and it weighed heaviest on middle-aged and older respondents, who were also the ones least likely to cite income. IOM found health problems were a major reason people were still in collective accommodation after a long time. Just under a third had accessed any psychological support, and those who attended support groups reported better well-being and better handling of stress.
A person with a disability doesn’t stop needing a working phone once the danger is behind them. In a host country like Poland the phone is what they run their life through, and often it isn’t a way of communicating at all — it’s the assistive device itself. Translation apps in a language they don’t speak, sight apps such as Be My Eyes, screen readers, speech-to-text: none of it works without data on the phone. Moving out of a collective site into independent living means doing more of it through a handset. That’s booking a medical appointment, following the progress of a protection claim, banking and studying, all online. It’s finding work too, and remote work is often the only realistic option for someone whose disability limits how far they can travel. As in-person support is cut back, more of that lands online. The people who most needed a person in the room are the ones now expected to manage all of it from a phone they may have no credit on. We believe free credit on that phone, for use in everyday life, is what makes independent living real rather than something on a form.
Calling for Help exists to close that gap. Digital inequality leaves refugees with disabilities cut off from help that already exists, so we send free mobile top-ups every month and the person uses them to reach whoever is best placed to help — a caseworker, a clinic, a local organisation, their own family.
We believe it is the most cost-effective humanitarian aid there is. Nobody has to be employed to find them and nobody has to travel: the credit arrives on the number they already use, once they have passed AI-based identity and anti-fraud checks. The pilot has a limited number of places while we find out what it changes.
If you have a disability and are living as a refugee, or you support someone who is, apply to the pilot. To follow what we find, join the newsletter.