The interior ministers met yesterday to plan a joint response to the emerging refugee crisis triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Although no decisions were taken at the meeting in Brussels on Sunday, the ministers will meet again and possibly take a decision on Thursday.
“The consistent message was that all European countries are ready to help and receive Ukrainians,” Mikkonen said. Helsingin Sanomat lends.
This week, the European Commission is calling on the Member States to grant all Ukrainians temporary asylum for a maximum of three years. Ylva JohanssonCommissioner for Home Affairs, quoted BBC and New York Times on Sunday.
Mikkonen pointed out that the situation differs from previous refugee crises in that the number of asylum applications has remained low in relation to people fleeing Ukraine. One reason for this, he said, is that displaced people have been able to turn to their friends and relatives living in Ukrainian communities elsewhere in Europe.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimated on Sunday that nearly 370,000 people fled the fighting in Ukraine between Thursday, the first day of the attack and Sunday.
ROWING: #Ukraine the numbers of refugees have just been updated – they are based on information provided by national authorities. The current total is now 368,000 and continues to rise.
– UNHCR News (@RefugeesMedia) February 27, 2022
The Polish border guard said over the weekend that about 156,000 people had arrived in Ukraine, 90 percent of whom had come to receive friends or family. About 71,000 Ukrainians have applied for protection in Hungary and 47,000 in Romania. Romanian Defense Minister Vasile Dรฎncu said before the attack began that the country was ready to receive more than 500,000 refugees if needed.
Moldova has received about 25,000 people from Ukraine.
The Finnish Immigration Service (Migri) expects the number of people fleeing the war fueled by the Russian President to increase Vladimir Putin.
Helsingin Sanomat on Sunday wrote In 2022, Ukrainian citizens will have submitted a total of 57 asylum applications in Finland, of which 35 on Friday and 9 on Saturday. Pekka NuutinenThe head of the Migris reception unit said that he did not know of any new applicants who had submitted an application before crossing the border into Finland.
โApplications have been filed earlier this year and in the last couple of days, but we think most of them are from people who have already lived in the country,โ he commented.
Aleksi Teivainen – HT
Source: The Nordic Page