Ukraine flight: 7 million displaced persons possible, EU is alarmed - and wants to draw "mass influx" clause

Created: 02/28/2022, 05:40

By: Florian Naumann

Passengers wait at the Lviv train station in western Ukraine for a train bound for Poland.

© Bernat Armangue/AP/dpa

The situation in Ukraine is dramatic.

The EU expects millions of refugees - at the same time the Union wants to create a historic turnaround in dealing with the situation.

Brussels - Also on Sunday (February 27th) there were sometimes heavy fighting in Ukraine - many people in the country are suffering from fear of death and also destruction.

The EU now expects a huge refugee movement in the wake of the Ukraine conflict *.

She does not know how many people will come, said EU Interior Commissioner Ylva Johansson on Sunday before a crisis meeting in Brussels.

"I think we have to prepare for millions," said the Swede.

Germany is also preparing for a massive flight from Ukraine - and, according to Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD), wants to rely on "unbureaucratic solutions" and a "strong signal".

Faeser spoke of a "total paradigm shift" in the conflict.

Chancellor and party member Olaf Scholz had previously spoken of a "turning point" in the Bundestag.

Ukraine war: More than seven million displaced persons expected - UN plans appeal for help

EU Crisis Management Commissioner Janez Lenarcic was even more specific.

The currently expected number of displaced Ukrainians is more than seven million, said Commissioner Janez Lenarcic, responsible for EU crisis management, in Brussels on Sunday.

In the worst case - if this war continued - they would have urgent humanitarian needs.

The United Nations would therefore make an urgent appeal for help to the international community.

The EU Commission has already mobilized 90 million euros in aid

A concrete measure was also made public on Sunday evening: The EU Commission wants to propose for the first time to put rules in the event of a "mass influx" of displaced people into force.

Johansson said on Sunday after the meeting that she would present a proposal at the next meeting of EU interior ministers this Thursday.

Ukraine conflict: So far 300,000 Ukrainians in the EU - Commissioner expects a larger influx

According to Johansson, around 300,000 Ukrainians have come to the EU* because of the Russian war.

However, few had applied for asylum or sought protection in Member States' shelters.

Instead, they stayed with friends or relatives.

But you have to be prepared for the fact that many more people will arrive from Ukraine*, said Johansson.

She will therefore propose a solidarity platform to coordinate the help of the EU countries.

So far, no EU country has asked for the redistribution of refugees, including none directly on the border with Ukraine like Poland or Slovakia.

According to the Polish border guard, more than 200,000 refugees have arrived in Poland since the start of the Ukraine war.

Only Moldova has asked for help from the EU, it said.

So far, the accommodation of refugees has been one of the main controversial issues in the EU*.

But there is great solidarity in the Ukraine conflict. Well over 100,000 people took to the streets in Berlin on Sunday against the Kremlin's war.

Ukraine conflict: Faeser wants a paradigm shift for refugees - "It's war in Europe again"

"For us, the main thing now is to find unbureaucratic solutions to get people to safety as quickly as possible," said Minister Faeser.

“For the first time it is war in Europe again.

And it would of course be a very strong signal if Europe agreed today on this humanitarian admission and as unbureaucratically as possible.”

Interior Minister Nancy Faeser in Brussels on Sunday.

©John Thys/AFP

So now the “mass influx” clause is to be invoked.

Specifically, displaced persons could be granted immediate temporary protection without lengthy asylum procedures.

The directive is intended to be applied when there are potentially so many asylum applications that the standard procedure could have negative effects on processing.

In doing so, common minimum standards would have to be observed.

This includes, for example, a work permit and access to social assistance, medical care, education for minors and, under certain conditions, the possibility of family reunification.

The voluntary redistribution of refugees in the EU is also possible.

The directive is a consequence of the wars in the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s.

There, too, in Bosnia-Herzegovina, there was recently a highly critical political situation*.

EU in the Ukraine war: a number of countries ready to take in refugees - WHO warns of a serious emergency

Support for triggering the directive came from France, which currently holds the presidency of the EU states, and from Belgium.

A number of states also showed their willingness to take in refugees and called for EU-wide solidarity.

"I hope that we will be able to jointly take responsibility for the people fleeing Russian aggression," said Swedish Interior Minister Anders Ygeman.

A warning from the World Health Organization (WHO) has shown how serious the situation in Ukraine* is in some cases: it sees a dangerous bottleneck in the supply of oxygen in Ukrainian hospitals.

"The oxygen supply situation is approaching a very dangerous point in Ukraine," a WHO statement said on Sunday.

Trucks are unable to bring supplies from factories across the country to hospitals, including in the capital Kyiv, the statement said.

The supplies in some clinics could already be used up in the next 24 hours, in some places it is even so far.

Thousands of lives would be endangered.

A map from

shows which Ukrainian areas Russia has been able to bring under its control so far.

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