When Russia launched a full-scale invasion on February 24, 2022, asylum seekers, refugees and persons in need of complementary protection from Ukraine were among the millions displaced into the European Union.
EU Council Decision 2022/382 of March 4, 2022, provided many of them with access to temporary protection. At the same time, these people faced significant obstacles in accessing it: documents certifying their status in Ukraine were missing or not recognized in the EU; some states, together with the refugees’ documents, also demanded the passports of their countries of origin, which could not be at their disposal; other countries sent refugees to the embassies of their countries of origin, which posed a risk to their safety.
In order to protect the rights of refugees and persons in need of complementary protection in Ukraine, СF “Right to Protection” has developed a Legal note “Addressing barriers to protection for beneficiaries of international protection and asylum seekers fleeing Ukraine to the EU” and an infographic about the documents of refugees who are eligible for temporary protection. The purpose of these documents is to facilitate the interaction of the beneficiaries with the migration authorities of the host countries in the EU and enforce refugees’ rights.
