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War in Ukraine: the European Union prepares to welcome refugees

2022-03-02T08:19:13.346Z


FOCUS - Europe must pass a mechanism granting three-year residence permits to Ukrainian refugees. How to accommodate the influx of refugees from Ukraine? Since the beginning of the Russian invasion in Ukraine, more than 500,000 people have presented themselves at overwhelmed border posts, engulfed in crowded trains or taken the road of exodus on foot. Most of them are women and children - men between the ages of 18 and 60 having to stay in the country to fight. Their number could eventually re


How to accommodate the influx of refugees from Ukraine?

Since the beginning of the Russian invasion in Ukraine, more than 500,000 people have presented themselves at overwhelmed border posts, engulfed in crowded trains or taken the road of exodus on foot.

Most of them are women and children - men between the ages of 18 and 60 having to stay in the country to fight.

Their number could eventually reach four million people presenting themselves at the gates of Europe.

"We are witnessing what could become the biggest humanitarian crisis on our continent for many, many years...we must prepare for a crisis of historic proportions"

, warned Sunday, February 27 Janez Lenarcic, the European Commissioner in charge of crisis management, after a meeting in Brussels of European Ministers of the Interior.

To discover

  • LIVE - War in Ukraine: Russian airborne troops jumped on Kharkiv

  • Follow information on the war in Ukraine with the Figaro application

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A special residence permit

Most of the refugees have joined neighboring countries: 280,000 people have gone to Poland, nearly 85,000 to Hungary, 37,000 to Moldova and 32,517 to Romania, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

Others were welcomed by relatives in Germany, the Czech Republic or Italy.

To facilitate travel, the EU is considering the administrative arrangements for their reception.

For now, Ukrainians who have a biometric passport can stay in Europe for 90 days.

But they could benefit from

“temporary protection in the event of a mass influx of displaced people”

, a European Union scheme granting them a three-year residence permit, with access to social and financial assistance, and the right to work.

The directive dates from 2001, but has never been used: it must be adopted Thursday, March 3 by the European Union.

Ylva Johansson, the European Commissioner for Home Affairs, must present a proposal to this effect for the next Council of Home Affairs Ministers scheduled for Thursday, where it will have to be approved by a relative majority, i.e. at least 15 member countries.

In addition, France on Tuesday March 1 asked the United Kingdom to relax its conditions for granting visas to Ukrainian refugees who are fleeing the invasion of their country by Russia, fearing that they will be

"stranded"

in the North .

“without any solution”

.

Free trains

In the meantime, countries are giving aid to Ukraine and its neighbours.

The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, promised on Tuesday March 1 to commit at least 500 million euros from the European budget for humanitarian assistance, and France sent 33 tons of aid to Poland for equip refugee camps.

Trains are now free for Ukrainian refugees in several countries, including France, Germany and Poland.

In France,

“reception capacities will be found”

, affirmed Monday February 28 on France Info Didier Leschi, director general of the French office for immigration and integration (Ofii):

“The question is not not that of first reception, but of long-term reception, that is to say housing and payment of rents.

How and by whom?

These are the questions that need to be asked.”

On Tuesday, February 1, the government invited elected officials who wish to welcome Ukrainian refugees fleeing the Russian invasion of their country to

“inform”

the prefects of the

“possible solutions and initiatives”

in their municipalities to prepare for their arrival.

Source: lefigaro

All news articles on 2022-03-02

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