Yuliia Zaika, a nine-year old Ukrainian girl, holds her cat in the village of Moshchun near Kyiv,
Ukraine, November 8. Photo: CNS/ Murad Sezer, Reuters. Berlin (KNA) The Expert Council on Integration and Migration (SVR) is calling for a long-term strategy for war refugees from Ukraine. Temporary protection will end for them in March 2025, said Jan Schneider, Head of Research at the SVR, in Berlin on Thursday. Sustainable follow-up solutions are needed, “otherwise several million people in Europe may find themselves without a residence permit in just over a year’s time”.
In view of the European elections in June, it is important to hold political talks as soon as possible that take into account both the interests of Ukraine and those of the refugees. At the same time, the host countries in Europe have already invested a great deal in integration. Refugees who have found work in Germany and elsewhere can now more often imagine staying in the host country.
However, these well-educated people, often women, are also pillars of reconstruction in Ukraine. “Circular mobility” and mobile working could be part of a transnational strategy here, said Schneider. The mobility of Ukrainians within the European Union in particular should be maintained with a view to Ukraine’s possible accession to the EU.
If the countries do not agree on new residence rules, there is a risk of “what the activation of the EU Temporary Protection Directive was intended to prevent: an overloading of the asylum systems with large numbers of individual asylum applications.”
According to its own statements, the SVR is an independent, interdisciplinary panel of experts that advises policymakers in an action-orientated manner and provides the public with factual information.