Number of Ukrainian beneficiaries of temporary protection in EU decreases

Eurostat released such data on Tuesday, Ukrinform reports.

It is noted that as of the end of July, 2024, the EU countries hosting the highest number of beneficiaries of temporary protection from Ukraine were Germany (1,110, 600 people; 26.9% of the EU total), Poland (976,205; 23.7%) and Czech Republic (369,610; 9.0%).

Eurostat notes that compared to the end of June 2024, the largest absolute increases in the number of beneficiaries were observed in Poland (+10,430; +1.1%), the Czech Republic (+8,834; +2.4%) and Romania (+4 250; +2.6%).

At the same time, their number decreased in Luxembourg (-470; -11.0%) and France (-470; -0.8%).

In addition, starting in July 2024, Germany removed from the reported stock of people under temporary protection all individuals whose temporary protection status was no longer valid because either they have been granted with another protection status or definitely left the German territory.

"In comparison with the end of June 2024, this led to a significant decrease in the number of people under temporary protection reported by Germany, with a reduction of 236,925 people (-17.6%)," Eurostat press release reads.

On 31 July 2024, Ukrainian citizens represented over 98% of the beneficiaries of temporary protection. Adult women made up almost half (45.3%) of the temporary protection beneficiaries in the EU. Children accounted for almost one-third (32.4%), while adult men comprised slightly more than a fifth (22.4%) of the total.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, the EU activated the temporary protection mechanism on March 4, 2022, shortly after Russia had launched full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The mechanism offers displaced Ukrainians collective protection and gives them the right to residence, employment, housing, medical care and education for their children.

On June 25, the EU Council decided to extend temporary protection until March 4, 2026 for Ukrainian refugees.