Millions of Ukrainians evicted from home
Nearly 10 million Ukrainians have crossed borders into neighboring countries since the start of the war, and about 4 million in the opposite direction. This is according to figures from the United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR. A return to Ukraine is often not permanent. The UN questioned more than 1,000 Ukrainians who traveled to Ukraine in June and July. Almost half of them came for a short visit, to pick up personal belongings or to help family.
More than 6 million Ukrainians are displaced abroad. Nearly 2 million of them are now in Russia. According to Kyiv, some of them have been deported. 1.2 million Ukrainians have been sheltered in Poland and over 900 thousand in Germany.
In the Netherlands, 71 thousand Ukrainians have now registered, of whom 53 thousand are in emergency shelters. In addition to the Ukrainian refugees abroad, more than 6 million inhabitants are internally displaced.
Most new asylum applications in the Netherlands from Syria and Turkey
More than 7,000 people applied for asylum in the second quarter and there were more than 3,000 ‘followers’ (relatives), the CBS and the IND report. This is a slight increase compared to the previous quarter, but considerably less than the almost 10 thousand first asylum applications at the end of 2021.
Ukrainians do not have to submit an asylum application to reside and work in the Netherlands. Most asylum seekers come from Syria, Turkey and Afghanistan. At 170, the number of asylum seekers from Russia is small, but somewhat higher than the 120 of the previous quarter.
Due to the drought and unsafe situation in Somalia, the number of asylum applications from Somalis has increased since mid-2021, from 300 last quarter.