Posted Feb 28 2023 at 10:52Updated Feb 28. 2023 at 17:04
Receiving Ukrainians in 2022 cost France around 630 million euros, the Court of Auditors estimated on Tuesday. This exceptional care represents on average double the budget allocated to “classic” asylum seekers.
The approximately 115,000 displaced Ukrainians who have arrived in France over the past year have been received in “satisfactory conditions”, thanks to the unprecedented “temporary protection” regime. The latter allowed them to settle freely while benefiting from an unprecedented number of social rights: access to work, health services, schooling for children, emergency accommodation, etc.
Allowance and accommodation
“This responsiveness was not without price”, underlines the financial jurisdiction in the flash audit report which it made public on Tuesday. “The total expenditure incurred by the State and Social Security for the temporary protection of Ukrainians should amount to approximately 634 million euros for the year 2022.” The bulk of this expenditure is made up of allowance paid to these displaced persons (218.46 million) and accommodation (253.27 million).
The Court of Auditors noted a significant additional cost, which is mainly “the urgency” in which this reception had to be organized. Thus, the “unit cost” for a Ukrainian represented in 2022 “almost double that of the systems offered to traditional asylum seekers”, note the financial magistrates.
In detail, for accommodation, “the cost per place and per day amounted to 38 euros on national average, where the sheltering of common law […] is on average less than 20 euros and less than 18 euros in the national system for the reception of asylum seekers”.
Better regulate citizen accommodation
The administrative authority also recommends “better supervision of citizen accommodation”, on which, according to it, 40% of the weight of reception weighs. Since the end of 2022, nearly 900 homes hosting displaced Ukrainians have received financial aid from the State, around 150 euros per month, which represented an envelope of some 786,000 euros, the Ministry of Housing told AFP last week. . However, the Court warns that “the ability to maintain compensation” is “not guaranteed”.
Generally speaking, the long-term nature of the conflict in Ukraine poses a serious challenge, according to financial magistrates. In this respect, they consider that “the absence of credits in the finance law for 2023 deprives all stakeholders of the visibility necessary to organize the means of action”. In their eyes, this situation poses a risk to the cash flow of associations and private operators involved in this reception alongside the State. The Court therefore urges the government to estimate the budgetary appropriations for the year.