EU granted temporary protection in March to over 500 000 people fleeing war in Ukraine
In March 2022, among the EU member states for which data are available, Poland granted the highest number of temporary protection statuses to Ukrainians fleeing Ukraine (675 085) as a consequence of Russia’s invasion, EU statistics agency Eurostat said on June 3.
Poland was followed by Czech Republic (244 650) and Slovakia (58 750).
In all, with data for some EU countries missing, a total of 539 870 people fleeing Russia’s war in Ukraine were given temporary protection in the bloc’s member states in March.
While the overwhelming majority of people receiving temporary protection were Ukrainians, there were also citizens of other countries who received such status in the EU member states, for example 575 Russians and 325 Belarusians in Poland, Eurostat said.
Based on the data already available for April 2022, the number of Ukrainians receiving temporary protection increased in nine EU member states, with the largest increases recorded in Bulgaria and Lithuania (+30 965 and +21 800 people, respectively, compared with March 2022).
In contrast, the numbers dropped in seven EU member states, with the largest decrease observed in Poland (-249 465 people compared with March 2022), followed by Slovakia (-45 310) and Portugal (-15 635).
Compared with the population of each EU country, the highest ratio of Ukrainian citizens granted temporary protection in March 2022 was recorded in Czech Republic (22.9 granted temporary protection per 1000 inhabitants), followed by Poland (17.8), Slovakia (10.8) and Estonia (10.5).
Ukrainian children (people under 18 years old) represented the largest group granted temporary protection in Poland (361 565 people, or 54 per cent of Ukrainians granted protection in Poland in March), followed by Czech Republic (96 740, or 40 per cent) and Slovakia (24 130, or 41 per cent).
In all countries for which March 2022 data are available, children below the age of 14 represented the vast majority (three-quarters or more) of all children granted temporary protection, Eurostat said.
In the EU member states for which data are available, two-thirds or more of Ukrainians granted temporary protection were females, including girls.
The largest number of females who received temporary protection were reported by Poland (446 660, or 66 per cent of the Ukrainians granted protection in Poland in March), Czech Republic (163 190, or 67 per cent) and Slovakia (41 370, or 70 per cent).
Among males granted temporary protection in the EU member states, the majority were boys below 18 years old, Eurostat said.
(Main photo: UNHCR/Chris Melzer)
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