Since the start of the Russian attack on Ukraine, the federal police have identified 232,462 war refugees in Germany. This was announced by the Federal Ministry of the Interior on Tuesday.
However, this number does not reflect the entire flight process. Because it is limited to refugees who were found by the federal police, for example at the Austrian-Bavarian border, at train stations or on trains. As a rule, there are no fixed border controls at the internal EU borders, and Ukrainians are also allowed to enter the country without a visa – the number of people who actually arrived is therefore probably significantly higher.
It is also not recorded how many of the refugees may be traveling on from Germany to friends or relatives in other countries. The number reported by the Ministry of the Interior does not refer to registrations in reception facilities or with immigration authorities.
Russia’s war against Ukraine began on February 24. According to the UN, more than 3.5 million people have already fled Ukraine abroad. Ukraine had a population of more than 44 million before the Russian attack began. “We have to assume that there will be eight to ten million refugees in the next few weeks,” Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said at an EU meeting in Brussels on Monday. The interior ministers of the European Union want to talk again next Monday about taking in the war refugees.