On Monday 7 November, several members of the European Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties once again deplored the difference in treatment applied by Member States between Ukrainian refugees and refugees of other nationalities, whose access to the labour market, for example, is much more complex.
These criticisms came in particular from MEPs Birgit Sippel (S&D, German), Sophie in ’t Veld (Renew Europe, Dutch) and Tineke Strik (Greens/EFA, Dutch) during an exchange on the implementation of the Temporary Protection Directive, activated in March 2022 for the benefit of Ukrainian refugees and which gives them a series of rights.
This difference in treatment is “incomprehensible”, according to Sophie in ’t Veld, who pointed out that to date “almost 80% of Ukrainian refugees have found a job in the Netherlands while the others have to wait, are frustrated and are accused of doing nothing”, a situation that “feeds racism”.
Tineke Strik asked the European Commission how it is helping already overburdened national asylum systems, which have been further overburdened by the war in Ukraine, with municipalities in the Netherlands no longer feeling obliged “to take in other refugees”.
For the European Commission, there is no justification for these differences in treatment and the European Directives provide a framework for access to the labour market for all asylum seekers, stressed its representative, Beate Gminder. “It’s in the Directives, so it depends on how the Member States implement” these obligations.
The Commission representative also told MEPs that Member States are currently preparing different reception scenarios with contingency plans in case of new arrivals of Ukrainian refugees who may flee from power cuts and attacks on key infrastructure by Russian forces. At present, however, the situation at the EU’s external borders remains stable, said Beate Gminder.
In order to cope with possible influxes, the Commission is in any case currently working on a system of partnerships with safe private accommodation. “We know the sometimes critical reception capacity in some Member States, we are considering giving them financial support”, Mrs Gminder added.
Present during this exchange of views, the UNHCR and the NGO Save the Children insisted on the removal of barriers for Ukrainian refugees, such as language, in order to claim all their rights. Save the Children believes that the emotional state of children should also be addressed, and that the risk of academic failure should be tackled. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)