The EU fundamental rights agency FRA has investigated the situation of Ukrainian war refugees in Europe. They are optimistic about the future – be it in their old homeland or in the EU.
Vienna/Brussels. When Vladimir Putin issued an order to Ukraine on February 24, 2022, the Russian ruler’s order to attack triggered Europe’s largest wave of refugees since the end of the Second World War. According to estimates by the UN refugee agency, as of February 21, 2023, almost 8.1 million Ukrainians were spread across the countries of Europe, although these statistics also include the estimated 2.8 million people who – voluntarily or involuntarily – ended up in Russia. Around 4.8 million Ukrainian citizens with a regulated right of residence are currently registered as refugees in the European Union.
How are these people doing a year after the Russian invasion of their homeland? The EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) investigated this question in a large-scale study that was published on Tuesday. As part of the survey, a total of 14,685 people in ten EU member states – namely in Poland, Germany, Italy, Spain, Estonia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria – were asked about their situation in the second half of 2022. The selection of countries was based on the relative density of Ukrainian refugees in relation to the population (e.g. in the Czech Republic or Estonia) or on the absolute number of Ukrainians accommodated (e.g. in Poland or Germany).
A third applied for asylum
As far as the legal status of the refugees is concerned, two-thirds of the Ukrainians surveyed resorted to the emergency mechanism of so-called temporary protection activated by the EU at the beginning of March 2022. This legal remedy is currently valid until March 2024 (but could be extended depending on the course of the war) and grants Ukrainians collective protection – those affected do not have to prove any concrete reasons for their flight. The remaining third of those surveyed have in the meantime submitted individual asylum applications – and are presumably preparing for a longer stay in the EU.
This assumption is supported by the second finding of the study: According to this, a third of those questioned would no longer like to return to their homeland, but would like to start a new life in the EU, while another third definitely want to return to Ukraine – and the rest is currently undecided or did not want to answer the question.
In any case, the integration into the European labor markets seems to have been successful. After less than a year, two-thirds of those surveyed who worked in Ukraine before the start of the war found a job in the EU – although the proportion of unpaid work was relatively high at a good 30 percent. The biggest hurdles in the professional context included the language barrier (which is relatively low only in Poland due to linguistic kinship) and care obligations – because three quarters of the children who fled Ukraine are only in the EU with their mother – which made it difficult for said mothers to look for work difficult. Overall, half of the adults surveyed stated that they were worried about their own financial situation, while a quarter were able to make a living thanks to their job.
Too little language instruction
As far as the language barrier is concerned, the FRA report shows that the measures taken by EU members so far are not geared enough towards the longer-term integration of Ukrainians. Accordingly, 40 percent of those surveyed have not attended a single language course since arriving in the EU. And almost two-thirds of the children who fled Ukraine were not integrated into the local education systems, but received online lessons from Ukraine.
Despite all the difficulties, Ukrainians do not feel isolated in the EU. After less than a year abroad, a third of those questioned stated that they felt part of the local society. And two out of three Ukrainian war refugees say they are optimistic about the future.
(“Die Presse”, print edition, 03/01/2023)