Arrival of war refugees at Berlin Central Station.
(Photo: IMAGO/Christian Thiel)
Berlin More and more Ukrainians are seeking protection in other countries because of the Russian war of aggression against their country. The number of war refugees is also increasing in Germany.
As the Federal Ministry of the Interior announced on Saturday, the federal police in Germany have so far registered 27,491 displaced persons from Ukraine. However, the actual number of Ukrainians who entered Germany could be “much higher”, it said.
Since there are no border controls, the official figure only shows part of the refugees. According to the ministry, the federal police have been recording the number of people displaced by war from Ukraine since the Russian attacks began on February 24.
According to the Berlin Senate Department, more than 11,000 war refugees from Ukraine arrived in the German capital on Friday alone. This exceeded the expectations of Berlin’s Senator for Social Affairs, Katja Kipping (left). This had previously expected about 8,500 to 11,000 other people from Ukraine.
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According to estimates by the UN refugee agency UNHCR, around 1.3 million people had fled Ukraine by Friday, most of them to Poland. The UNHCR estimates the number of Ukrainian refugees there as of last Thursday at almost 650,000.
The US Secretary of State speaks to refugee families during his visit to Poland.
(Photo: AP)
A huge aid campaign by the authorities and private initiatives for the refugees has started across the country. On Saturday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken thanked Poland for its commitment within NATO and for taking in hundreds of thousands of refugees.
Poland has shown generosity, leadership and determination at this moment of crisis for millions of people, when the security balance in Europe is threatened, said Blinken in Rzeszow after a meeting with his Polish counterpart Zbigniew Rau.
Predictions are difficult
The Federal Ministry of the Interior emphasizes that it is currently difficult to make a forecast as to how many Ukrainians could still leave their country in the wake of the Russian attacks. Several media had previously reported on an estimate by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) that up to 225,000 war refugees from Ukraine could seek protection in Germany.
At the request of the German Press Agency, the Ministry of the Interior confirmed that these were estimates. The currently available assessments could “vary depending on the source” and change at short notice “due to the dynamic situation”, it said.
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In order to offer the Ukrainians the most unbureaucratic protection possible, the EU put a directive into force for the first time on Friday for the case of a “mass influx” of displaced persons. The protection for people from Ukraine is therefore initially for one year, but can be extended by a total of two more years.
A lengthy asylum procedure is therefore not necessary. In addition, those seeking protection have direct rights to social benefits, education, accommodation and a work permit, among other things.
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