Ukrainian refugees were greeted by French volunteers on their arrival by bus in Saint-Pierre de Chandillo (Rhône), 3 March 2022. JEFF PACHOUD / AFP
This is a “paradigm shift”, Interior Commissioner Ilva Johansson said on Thursday (March 3rd): The 27 decided to implement for the first time a 2001 directive providing “temporary protection” to refugees fleeing the war in Ukraine. They will be able to stay in the European Union (EU) for at least a year, work there, have access to social assistance and housing, an education system and medical care.
The measure will benefit Ukrainians, those who have already had refugee status, and foreigners who have resided in Ukraine for a long time. Those who did not have a residence permit in that country will be assisted before being repatriated to their country of origin, Ms Johansson promised. The ongoing negotiations have led to a compromise: each country can implement either the European solution or specific national legislation. Austria, Poland and Hungary did not want to subscribe to a text applicable in the future to other refugees.
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A huge outpouring of generosity is evident, in any case, almost everywhere, and contrasts sharply with the reluctance expressed, especially in Central and Eastern Europe, during the wars in Syria and Afghanistan.
In addition, evidence of atrocities suffered by third-country nationals in both Ukraine and Poland has multiplied and provoked an alarming response from Antonio Vitorino, director of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), a UN agency. The former EU commissioner said on Thursday that he was “alarmed” by “verified reports of discrimination, violence and xenophobia” suffered by people trying to escape the conflict.
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In Brussels, “we know nothing” emphasizes a source from the Commission. Testimonies and images confirmed that people of African, Asian or Caribbean descent had been forcibly detained at Ukrainian stations or brutally abused by police. Others were separated by Ukrainian citizens from the Polish military and border guards. Polish radical nationalist activists brutally targeted several Indian students on Tuesday, March 1, on the streets of Przemyśl in the southeast.
“segregation”
“The government is doing much more than we hoped for,” said Agnieszka Kosowicz, president of the Polish Migration Forum (PFM). Assistance from civil society has become enormous, but what worries us is the segregation of those coming from other continents, who are treated differently by the authorities and the population. »
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