EU lagging on its commitments to Ukrainian refugees

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The Washington Post reported that the EU is lagging on its commitments to provide Ukrainian refugees with appropriate accommodation, jobs, and schooling for their children.

Ever since the EU adopted the Temporary Protection Directive in March, Ukrainians were promised that they would be provided homes, jobs, and healthcare and have their children sent to school in whichever country of the 27 EU states they choose to settle in for up to three years.

Though it is clear that the extent of support is unprecedented, especially when compared to the Syrian migrant crisis of 2015 and 2016, many have expressed frustration over the constant moving and the difficulty of securing a job.

Mothers with young children are mostly affected by these challenges, even though at times they succeeded in registering their children in schools and starting new lives.

But chances of success most often depended on the country, city, or street they chose or were sent to.

For all the wrong or right reasons, about 3 million Ukrainians returned to Ukraine, either because it seemed safe enough or because life as a refugee was just too much to bear. 

As of mid-October, 4.5 million Ukrainians had registered for temporary protection, which is far above the number of people who sought refuge in 2015 and 2016.

Polish Humanitarian Spokesperson Action Helena Krajewska said, "Many Ukrainians are going to stay here for a long time. Maybe months, maybe years, maybe forever."

"We need to help them be able to provide for themselves." 

But as the energy crisis deepens and recessions are being foreseen in some of the EU's major economies, how is the EU going to carry on to its protective commitments towards Ukrainian refugees?

Employment issues

When the conflict began, the EU was facing labor shortages, especially in light of the effects of the pandemic. 

Despite this, Ukrainians encountered immense challenges in securing a job. The causes are obviously plenty, but language requirements, differences in work experiences, and managing children's schooling or education are among the chief reasons.

UNHCR found that 28% of refugees were employed or self-employed, compared with 63% before leaving Ukraine.

With some struggling to find work, nearly half the refugee population relies on social benefits as a main source of income. 

Child care and language barriers again present as the principal reasons for impeding job search. 

After granting Ukrainian refugees special access to German welfare system, authorities expect up to 410.000 to show up in German jobless statistics in the coming weeks.#reservearmyoflabourhttps://t.co/DmRP6X3En7

— Christoph Johanssen (@chjohanssen) June 5, 2022

Jean-Christophe Dumont, a migration expert at the OECD, said the employment level among Ukrainian refugees "is already not bad when you look at other refugee groups" whose integration process lasted longer.

But these rates vary from country to country.

For instance, Poland, which hosts the most refugees out of all EU countries, has more than half of working-age refugees employed, which contributes to helping newcomers in finding jobs more rapidly.

However, in France, the language and the lack of a preexisting diaspora makes market integration more challenging. So far, only 15% of working-age Ukrainian refugees are employed.

Official data reveals that many are overqualified, while others are precariously employed, primarily working in lower-wage sectors, which include logistics, manufacturing, agriculture, construction, and hospitality.

Moreover in Germany, it was reported that many of the refugees who found work aren't filling labor shortages in specific key industries but were assisting with the response to the refugee influx in positions that often require no or little German skills.

Read more: EU to allocate 17 billion euros for Ukrainian refugees

Homes

The majority of refugees rely on temporary accommodations in refugee centers, in hotels, with host families, whereas about a quarter rent a place of their own.

As arrangements are starting to expire, many aid organizations are struggling to secure funds to renew the leases 

"I wasn't wrong": Housing Minister Darragh O'Brien doubles down on his "no cap" policy for Ukrainian refugees, even as the government warns that some may end up homeless due to lack of accommodation.

Watch the full interview here: https://t.co/ujydUiumeh#gript pic.twitter.com/5Zzo2E3j91

— gript (@griptmedia) October 21, 2022

Some countries and municipalities have begun to pull back support on accommodation as they are running out of money.

"Countries did a very good job in the first phase," Dumont said. But "shifting from these initial reception centers to the regular housing market is a big challenge."

For instance in Prague, prior to taking 450,000 refugees in, the country had one of the world’s bubbliest housing markets.

So when the refugees arrived, the population of Prague grew by 7%, overwhelming public housing and further straining the rental market.
 
"At the beginning people were relatively open to renting to Ukrainians, but their attitude has changed," said Petra Vybíralová, a local real estate agent.

"Even though the Ukrainians are willing to pay, many landlords have developed aversion to them. A lot of people now feel that the Ukrainians are getting preferential treatment. They are also afraid that they will suddenly leave after a few months."

Overall in the Czech Republic, about half of Ukrainian refugees lack the privacy of having their own bathrooms or the security of having their own key. 

Yet, the housing conditions for Ukrainians remain far better than what other refugee groups have had before, like the notorious camp on the Greek island of Lesbos, where a garbage-strewn tent city has been replaced with a complex fenced in with razor wire, and conditions are regularly declared inhumane.

Read more: Refugees, exhausted by 'hunger and homelessness', in UK to return to Ukraine

Schooling children

The EU promised Ukrainian refugees it would provide education to their children.

So far, more than 671,000 Ukrainian children have been enrolled in EU schools, though the bloc still hasn't specified how many children are still not enrolled, with estimates ranging around the hundreds of thousands.

The UNHCR states that lack of space is the most common reason for not enrolling children.

Some countries were pressured to enroll refugees despite not having enough space, including the Czech Republic and Poland.

"There were not many teachers, not enough resources, not enough space," said Lucie Cerna, an OECD education analyst.

Some parents are often reluctant to enroll their kids, believing that the war conflict is set to end soon.

Moreover, some schools ask for too many requirements, which can further complicate the enrollment process. 

"Schools in some countries request medical reports, proof of vaccination and authenticated translation of academic records written in Ukrainian as a precondition to enroll children, which refugees often struggle to provide," UNHCR reported.

“Every child has to get proper education.” - Irina Fedur, our Team Leader of the schooling project for Ukrainian refugee #children in Budapest, #Hungary.

We presented the project at #SzigetFestival & discussed the challenges in education of children who flee the war in #Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/18UviDmAUd

— Tdh Europe (@TdhEurope) August 11, 2022

Since enrolling some refugee children, some countries have changed their approaches to learning.

In Poland for instance, the majority of Ukrainian students are rapidly placed in Polish-speaking classrooms as a means of hastening the integration process, whereas Germany relies on a different model of separate Ukrainian-speaking “welcoming classes”.

Other institutions have considered virtual learning as a good option.

"Often for older kids, it’s harder for them to learn new language, join a new school," said Hugh Reilly, a spokesman for UNICEF’s emergency response office in Poland.

The future is uncertain for many refugees who wait impatiently for the conflict to end. 

In the past few weeks, the EU has been ravaged by rallies in some of the bloc's major capital cities over soaring prices and the crushing costs of living.

Since the beginning of Russia's military operation in Ukraine, the EU sought to contain Russia through the imposition of various sanctionary and punitive mechanisms.

But due to the EU's overreliance on Russian gas, anti-Russian sanctions have caused more damage to EU citizens than they did to Russia, and as EU governments struggle to find alternatives to Russian oil, the masses are taking to the streets to voice their opposition to NATO's proxy war in Ukraine. 

Read more: 50,000 Ukrainian refugees in the UK could become homeless next year