Ukraine wants EU countries to stop providing financial aid to refugees - El Pais
Between six and ten million Ukrainian refugees still live abroad, and the Ukrainian government wants them to return.
As Censor.NET informs, El Pais writes about it
Ukraine is proposing radical measures to the EU countries to put pressure on citizens who do not return: cancellation of refugee assistance and a ban on consular services for men of military age. The reason is the risk that between 1.3 and 3.3 million people may remain abroad.
According to Olena Pishchulina, a sociologist at the Razumkov Analytical Centre, whether people will return depends on certain conditions. Some of them are impossible to fulfil while bombs are falling across the country every day. The first one is obvious: security. But a stable situation with economic and social opportunities is also needed. Those living abroad also expect a quality education and healthcare system.
Olena Babakova, a Ukrainian journalist and researcher specialising in migration at the University of the Wisła in Warsaw, adds high rental costs, couples breaking up after a period of separation and feeling like an outsider compared to those who stayed and survived the war as barriers to return.
Kyiv is considering different solutions to the problem
The Ukrainian government is advocating that EU member states stop helping refugees as a measure of pressure, and that men of military age should not have access to consular services. At the same time, it seeks to keep in touch with those who have left through legislative reforms. Last week, the parliament approved in the first reading the recognition of dual citizenship (Ukrainian and non-Ukrainian), which has been banned until now.
