Nearly 7,500 refugees have arrived in France since the beginning of the Russian offensive in Ukraine: 400 of them already benefit from this system created 20 years ago by the European Union.
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What status for Ukrainians arriving in France? For the first time since its creation 20 years ago, the European Union has decided to trigger “temporary protection” in the face of the influx of civilians fleeing the fighting in Ukraine. This is a device put in place after the war in the former Yugoslavia and intended to manage a massive flow of population, as is the case at the moment.
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Nearly 7,500 refugees have indeed arrived in France since the start of the war in Ukraine, while France has 25,000 places to accommodate them, Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said Thursday, March 10, during the opening of the interministerial crisis unit at Place Beauvau. In detail, 7,251 people have arrived in recent days, including 6,967 Ukrainians, the others having other nationalities, according to figures from the Ministry of the Interior, which does not specify the geographical origin of people with other nationalities – they can therefore in theory also come from Ukraine.
This system is open to people who have Ukrainian nationality, but also to foreigners who resided in Ukraine and their families. In France, just over 400 people had already obtained it on Thursday March 10. This “temporary protection” thus allows Ukrainians who leave the country to obtain rights in the country where they arrive. Concretely, this first allows the right to stay on French soil: six months initially, renewable for at least one year. This status also allows access to a certain number of resources, such as a right to housing first with the payment of personalized housing aid (APL).
There is also an allowance paid by the French office for immigration and integration, the amount of which is the same as for asylum seekers. It is calculated according to the size and configuration of the family. This status of “temporary protection” also makes it possible to work, to be cared for and to educate children between the ages of 3 and 16. The aim is also to quickly offer protection to arriving Ukrainians, without going through a lengthy asylum procedure.
For the moment, only 3,054 accommodation places (out of the 25,000 available) have been allocated – two-thirds of which in Île-de-France and around 300 in the Grand-Est. Refugees have gone to acquaintances or relatives and others are only in transit towards Spain or Portugal in particular. The Minister Delegate for Citizenship, Marlène Schiappa, thanked the associations and the French people who participate in “an outpouring of generosity” to welcome refugees from Ukraine, “everywhere on French territory”.