BERLIN (dpa-AFX) – The number of refugees from Ukraine has recently increased again in Germany. On the one hand, this may have something to do with the relaxed exit rules for young men. The Saxon Interior Minister, Armin Schuster, sees another reason.
As a spokeswoman for the Federal Ministry of the Interior announced upon request, in mid-October there were around 1.26 million Ukrainians living in Germany who had entered the country since February 24, 2022 in connection with the Russian war of aggression on their homeland. A year earlier, around 1.18 million Ukrainian war refugees lived in the Federal Republic.
Relaxed rules for young men
After the Russian attack in February 2022, martial law was declared in the Eastern European country, mobilization was ordered and has been regularly extended since then. Conscript men between the ages of 22 and 60 can only leave the country with a few exceptions. In August, the previous ban on leaving the country for men between 18 and 22 was lifted, which led to an increase in the number of young men leaving the country, including to Germany.
“The possibility is currently being considered that this is a first phase of increased migration after the regulation adopted by Ukraine in the summer comes into force and that the number of young men seeking protection may decrease again,” it says Federal Ministry of the Interior.
EU-wide inclusion is valid until at least March 2027
Refugees from Ukraine do not have to apply for asylum in Germany or other European Union states because they are accepted under the so-called mass influx directive and are therefore allowed to work immediately. An extension of temporary protection until March 4, 2027 has already been decided at EU level.
Lower services planned
In their coalition agreement, the Union and the SPD have agreed that Ukrainian refugees who come to Germany after March 31, 2025 should receive the lower asylum seeker benefits – as they did in the first weeks after the start of the war. In May 2022, the Bundestag decided to grant them access to citizen’s money if they cannot cover their own living expenses through income and assets.
Saxony’s Interior Minister Armin Schuster (CDU) recently called for the planned new regulations to be implemented quickly. He also sees time pressure here because the residence rights for Ukrainians in Poland were recently tightened. In the future, they should only receive social benefits such as child benefit if they work and pay taxes in Poland./abc/DP/mis