Ukrainians in Poland are increasingly seeking international protection. There is an explanation for this
28 January 2025 10:56
Ukrainian men living and working in Poland have begun to apply for international protection out of fear of being mobilized into the Ukrainian army. This was reported by the Polish edition of Polityka, "Komersant Ukrainian" informs.
According to the publication, it is all because of the mobilization law, according to which men of military age (18 to 60 years old) who are outside the country must update their military registration data – without this, neither the consulate nor the passport offices specially created in Poland after the war will issue them a new passport.
This problem, as the publication notes, citing data from the Ministry of Digital Transformation for January 2025, may affect almost 200,000 men of military age. Without a valid passport, all of them experience difficulties at almost every step. Since a passport is the main identification document abroad, it is impossible to work legally, rent an apartment, enroll a child in school, or open a bank account without it, not to mention entering another country, which is a major problem for truck drivers, for example.
Therefore, men with Ukrainian citizenship living in Poland began to apply for international protection in large numbers, the only form of legal stay available to them, which also allows them to obtain a travel document that does not require updating their military records.
“It turned out that this is the fastest and most reliable way for Ukrainians than even obtaining a temporary residence permit. In addition, a wide range of rights turned out to be an unexpected added value, including the ability to work without the need to obtain permits, or to use social assistance or social pensions. In fact, there are no refusals in these proceedings, and the status granted gives long-term legal residence and rights similar to those enjoyed by Poles,” says Ksenia Naranovych, migration advisor at the Poza Granic Foundation, which provides legal assistance to foreigners.
According to her, Ukrainian citizens currently account for more than 81 percent of all foreigners enjoying subsidiary protection in Poland. Moreover, more than 62 percent are men and 38 percent are women.
Temporary protection for Ukrainians in the EU has been extended
In the middle of last year, the Council of the European Union decided to extend temporary protection for more than four million Ukrainians until March 4, 2026.
As a reminder, the EU activated the Temporary Protection Directive on March 4, 2022. It has been extended several times.
Temporary protection provides Ukrainian citizens with the right to residence, medical and social assistance, housing, access to the labor market and education for children. It provides collective protection to a large group of displaced persons who arrive in the European Union and are unable to return to their home country.
How many Ukrainians enjoy temporary protection
As of October 31, 2024, almost 4.2 million non-EU citizens who fled Ukraine as a result of Russian aggression had temporary protection status in the EU.
The EU countries that accepted the largest number of temporary protection beneficiaries from Ukraine were Germany (1,140,705; 27.2% of the total EU), Poland (983,880; 23.4%) and the Czech Republic (379,370; 9.0%).
as of October 31, 2024, Ukrainian citizens accounted for over 98.3% of those granted temporary protection. Among them, 45% were adult women, 32% were children, and 23% were adult men.
