Venezuela, which is the country with the largest documented oil reserves in the world, has been plunged into a political, economic and social crisis for several years, struggling with recession and multi-digit inflation. In the second half of the second decade of the 21st century, the country’s economic and political situation deteriorated. Over a million Venezuelans have already migrated from their country, where there is a lack of basic everyday products, including food, medicines and hygiene products. In relation to this state, part of a discussion is not only the political or economic crisis, but also the humanitarian one. Venezuela’s internal problems also affect security throughout the Latin American region. International institutions and regional organizations are trying to undertake activities aimed at ending the dictatorial rule of President Nicolás Maduro and restoring the country’s democracy and the rule of law.

Following the fall of the so-called Islamic State in March 2019, tens of thousands of its fighters, along with their wives and children, were captured and detained in facilities controlled by Syrian Democratic Forces in northeast Syria. Many of which were European. Based on the information provided by scientific institutes and journalists, the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic had had a significant impact on the functioning of those facilities. Not only did it aggravate an already severe humanitarian crisis, pushing the detainees to reinforce their attempts of escaping and rioting against the guards, but it also lowered the security level in the controlled facilities, allowing a flourishing of criminal activities. Furthermore, the detainment of ISIS followers turned into a political game between the Kurdish coalition and the United States. The global health crisis put to the test the strategy of many Western governments of keeping European ISIS fighters in the Middle East while pressuring the international community to rethink its approach towards this crescent problem.

The Russian attack on Ukraine on 24 February 2022 triggered the beginning of the biggest humanitarian crisis in modern Europe since the end of World War 2. Within the first six days of the war, more than four million refugees crossed the Ukrainian border, and most of them arrived in Poland. In response to this crisis, non-governmental organizations and volunteers in Poland played a crucial role in providing support to Ukrainian refugees. Their efforts included providing basic necessities such as food and shelter, as well as assisting with legal and administrative matters. This may be dubbed an example of civil society in action, where citizens take initiative to help those in need here and now, without waiting for the state to introduce specific legal acts. This article aims to describe the historical background of civil activities in Poland as well as the response of both volunteers and the government to the refugee crisis in the first period of the war.