According to Eurostat data, the Czech Republic, with a population of 10.5 million, is the European Union member state that hosts the most Ukrainian refugees with temporary protection status in proportion to its population.
At the end of last year, there were more than 3.5 million Ukrainian refugees with temporary protection status in the territory of the European Union. Half were staying in Germany and Poland, about a quarter in each of these countries, followed by the Czech Republic, which hosted 11% of the refugees.
Shortly after the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, the EU decided to activate for the first time the rules allowing refugees to obtain temporary protection – a mechanism that gives access to public health insurance. , education and the labor market.
EU countries have also decided to extend the Temporary Protection Scheme until March 2024 due to prolonged fighting in Ukraine, when it was originally due to end in March this year.
Germany and Poland granted temporary protection status to 968,000 and 961,000 Ukrainian refugees at the end of last year, while the Czech Republic granted 432,000, according to Eurostat data.
According to the latest data from the Czech Interior Ministry, about 500,000 Ukrainian war refugees have been granted temporary protection visas in the Czech Republic. The ministry also estimated that by the end of 2022, about a fifth of the refugees had returned home.
The extension of the temporary protection will make it possible to obtain more precise data on the number of refugees who are actually staying in the Czech Republic. As of February 20, 230,000 Ukrainians have applied for extended protection, the ministry said in a press release.
According to a recent poll by the research institute STEM, most Czechs favor helping refugees and aligning with the West regarding the conflict.
Source : Euractiv
