CEDOS Policy briefIssue 2016/3

April 2016

UKRAINIANS SEEK ASYLUM IN THE EU:

REAL REFUGEES OR ECONOMIC MIGRANTS?

Since 2014, Ukraine has experienced the phenomenon of forced migration.

In addition to the numerous internally displaced persons, a lot of Ukrainians applied

for asylum in other countries. Most applications were submitted in Russia, but many

Ukrainians (34,380 people in 2014-15) asked for asylum in the EU countries. The

thing is that only 13.3 percent asylum seekers from Ukraine received a positive

response. About a half of the submitted applications are still undergoing

consideration. However, among the applications which have already been

processed, 70 percent were denied asylum.

In which countries do Ukrainians seek asylum? Which social categories

contributed to the increase in the number of asylum seekers from Ukraine in the

EU? Why are Ukrainians denied asylum? And who among Ukrainians potentially has

the right to a refugee status or other kinds of protection?

Since the early 2013, the number of Ukrainians who apply for asylum in the EU countries has

increased significantly. In 2013, before the protests in Kyiv started to escalate and before the events in Crimea

and in the East, Ukraine was not even one of the top 30 countries of origin of asylum seekers (with the average

of 70 applications per month in 2013 [1]). Since January 2014, the number of asylum seekers from Ukraine has

been gradually increasing. Since it peaked in October 2014 (2,170 applications during the month [2]), their

number has stayed at around 1,700-2,000 applications per month [2]. There was a decrease only in

December 2014 and January 2015 (1,440 and 1,345 applications respectively), which is apparently related to

the holiday season in Ukraine. The data about the killed and the wounded in the East of Ukraine [3] do not

demonstrate any similar decrease in the same period.

GENERAL STATISTICS

The dynamics of applications from Ukrainian asylum seekers between August 2013 and December 2015.

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In total, 20,830 asylum seekers from Ukraine arrived to the EU in 2014-15. The number is higher by

⅔ than in 2014 (13,550 applications) and more than 20 times higher than in 2013 (835 applications) [1].

As a result, Ukraine became the third among the European countries of origin of asylum seekers in

the EU, leaving behind Russia, which has traditionally been the first in this list. Only Albania and Macedonia, the

traditional countries of origin for the asylum seekers in the EU, are now ahead of Ukraine. However, these

countries should not be considered as countries of origin of refugees. The number of positive decisions for

asylum seekers from these countries is not more than 2 percent. Albanians and Macedonians are in fact

economic migrants who decided to use the migration crisis to receive refugee status.

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IN WHICH COUNTRIES DO UKRAINIANS SEEK ASYLUM?

If in 2008-13 Ukrainian asylum seekers mostly applied to Sweden, Czech Republic and France,

since 2014, the top countries are Italy, Germany, and Spain. In addition, Poland also appears on the list.

Top 5 countries where Ukrainians applied for asylum in 2014-15.

Why these countries? According to 2011 census data [4], these countries have the most

residents who were born in Ukraine: 233,000 in Poland, 206,000 in Germany, 181,000 in Italy and 74,000 in

Spain. In addition, according to the International Organization for Migration, the biggest fraction of all long-

term migrants from Ukraine in the EU live in Poland (22.5 percent) and Italy (15.7 percent) [5]. On the other

hand, Czech Republic, where a relatively high number of Ukrainians (138,000) live, has received not much

more applications for asylum in 2014-15, than the more remote and poorer (based on the level of GDP)

Portugal (33,000 Ukrainians). In 2015, 370 applications were submitted in Portugal, and 565 in Czech

Republic.

There are at least two forms of protection that can be obtained in the EU countries, the refugee status

and the “subsidiary protection.”

According to the 1951 Geneva Convention [6], the refugee status is a form of protection provided to

any person who, because of their “well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion,

nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality

and is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country.”

FORMS OF PROTECTION IN THE EU COUNTRIES

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“Subsidiary protection” is provided to those who need protection but do not qualify as refugees

according to the Geneva Convention. Such protection is provided to the people who applied for asylum

because of the “threat to live, security or freedom in the country of origin because of the fear of death penalty or

the execution of a death sentence, inhumane or degrading treatment or punishment or prevailing violence in

the situations of international or internal armed conflict or systematic human rights violations.”

The decisions about providing a refugee status or “subsidiary protection” implies giving the right to

long-term residence in the country and providing the protected person with most of the social rights, including

the right to education, work and public medical insurance. In addition to the status of refugees and the

subsidiary protection, asylum seekers can obtain various temporary forms of protection.

Any kind of protection can be cancelled, if it is suspected that the live and well-being of the particular

person is no longer threatened in their home country. Usually this is signified by regular travel to the home

country.

WHY ARE UKRAINIANS DENIED ASYLUM?

The available data do not allow for the analysis of the reasons which Ukrainians indicate in their

applications. However, it is obvious that the majority of the applications do not provide the sufficient and

necessary reasons for obtaining the refugee status or “subsidiary protection.” The evidence for it is than so

many Ukrainian applicants are denied asylum. The consideration of an application can proceed for up to a

year; and, in case of denial, an appeal can be filed, which is also considered for about a year. Every application

is considered separately. The procedure involves a face-to-face interview with the seeker, in which he or she

must provide arguments and proof of the reason why she or he cannot stay in their home country. The appeal is

processed by a different institution, and it involves a complete review of the case. During the whole period of

waiting for the decision — up to two years — the asylum seekers have the right to social housing, food and

minimal financial support. And even though the seekers must leave the country in case their appeals are

rejected, they can apply for extension of their stay.

In total, in 2015, the number of considered applications (9,295 applications [7]) was two times less

than the number of submitted applications. The majority of the applicants (6,520) were denied asylum. Most of

the denials for Ukrainians were in Poland (1,770 negative decisions) and France (1,310 decisions [7]). The most

prevalent reason for denying asylum was the “internal flight alternative” [8], that is, the possibility to move to a

different part of their home country and feel safe there. Only 1.8 percent (390 decisions) of Ukrainians received

the status of refugee according to Geneva Convention. The majority of such decisions were made in France

(150 decisions [7]). Another 1,150 asylum seekers [7] received humanitarian status. The rest were given other

forms of protection.

Most of the positive decisions about Ukrainians were made in Italy (1,635 positive decisions) [7].

More than a half of them were decisions about providing humanitarian protection. These persons received

residence permits for a year with the right to convert them into work permits [9].

The fraction of positive decisions about appeals is very small. Among 1,680 appeals which were

processed, only 40 were satisfied. It is probable that a considerable fraction of Ukrainians use the appeals for

the sole purpose of extending their right of legal stay.

By the end of 2015, 19,300 applications and appeals were still not considered. Most of them were

submitted in Germany (6,640 applications) and in Spain (4,195 applications) [10].

In Germany, the processing of applications from Ukrainians was frozen (deprioritization policy [11])

because the institutions which deal with the asylum seekers' cases are overloaded. Spain, despite the

relatively high number of applications from Ukrainians, did not make a single positive decision about them.

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Source: 7

A considerable part of the applications and appeals (2,110) were withdrawn by the seekers

themselves [12]. Most of such cases were in Poland (870 applications) [12]. There are at least two possible

reasons why the seekers withdrew their applications. First, they could have found simpler ways to legalize their

residence and work in Poland. Second, the applicants could have decided to apply in another country with

higher living standards and better social support [8]. According to the international regulations, the person who

applied for refugee status has to wait for the decision in the country where he or she submitted the application.

The decision to return to Ukraine as one of the reasons for withdrawing an application must also not be

ignored.

REAL REFUGEES OR LABOR MIGRANTS?

There is an opinion that the increase in the number of asylum seekers from Ukraine is most probably

the evidence for new means of legalizing labor migration. That is, that labor migrants, rather than those whose

lives are threatened and whose rights are violated, would sooner travel abroad.

According to the procedure, asylum seekers have no right to work while their application is being

considered. The right to work will be given only to those who succeed in obtaining “the status of refugee” or

“subsidiary protection.” Other seekers, who will be given “humanitarian status” or “temporary protection,” can

receive the right to work, if it is permitted by the laws of the country where they obtained the status. The

problem is that, because the institutions which deal with refugees are overloaded, the process of considering

applications takes too long. That is why some countries decide to provide working permits to everyone who

waits longer than the established term. For example, in Germany, all the applicants receive working permits

three months after they applied for asylum [11], and in Italy [13], after six months.

The indirect evidence of the motives of asylum seekers can be provided by general demographic

data. It is known that labor migrants usually do not move abroad as families. However, according to the

Eurostat data, a fourth of all the asylum seekers from Ukraine are children under the age of 18 (5,050 people)

[1]. The majority are people of working age, 18 to 64 (15,405). Among them, in the age category of 18 to 34, the

fraction of men is 17 percent higher than the fraction of women.

The regional origin of Ukrainian asylum seekers in the EU can be indirectly deduced from the –

Google Trends data (the tool for analysing Google search requests). In Ukraine, the request “obtain refugee

status” (in Russian) was trending in early 2014. It was most popular in Donetsk and Kyiv.

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The significance of this number can be evaluated in comparison to the number of the same requests

in Moscow, which was 5 times less, than in Donetsk. The majority of such requests probably were about

obtaining refugee status in Russia, because the number of applications for asylum in Russian Federation in

2014-15 was 13 times higher than in the EU — 409,243 applications.

The information about reasons provided by asylum seekers in their applications is not public and

probably cannot be easily categorized. We do not have access to these data and, therefore, cannot know for

sure why Ukrainians are denied asylum. The reason why a considerable part of applications are still being

processed (and in some countries Ukrainians' cases are frozen) is the serious overload of the relevant

institutions because of the migrant crisis in the EU. Apparently, a considerable number of applications by

Ukrainians simply do not provide sufficient reasons for obtaining any kind of protection. In particular, it is

indicated by 70 percent of denials. For those who flee the occupied territories because of the armed conflict

and the deterioration of living conditions, the “internal flight alternative” is a serious argument against providing

any kind of protection outside Ukraine. Asylum can be provided only to those who have personal fears about

the impossibility of staying on Ukrainian territory as a result of persecution, threat to their lives and well-being.

However, a certain fraction of those who applied for asylum in the last two years, apparently, used it simply as a

means to migrate to the EU countries.

Anastasia Fitisova

Andriy Solodko

asolodko@cedos.org.ua

Supported by Think Tank Development Initiative

1. Asylum and first time asylum applicants by citizenship, age and sex Annual aggregated data (rounded), EUROSTAT

http://appsso.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/nui/show.do?dataset=migr_asyappctza&lang=en

2. Asylum and new asylum applicants - monthly data, EUROSTAT

http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/tgm/table.do?tab=table&init=1&language=en&pcode=tps00189&plugin=1

3. Report on the human rights situation in Ukraine (1 December 2014 to 15 February 2015 , Office of the United Nations High

Commissioner for Human Rights http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Countries/UA/9thOHCHRreportUkraine.pdf

4. Population by country of birth at national level, EUROSTAT

http://appsso.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/nui/show.do?dataset=cens_11cob_n&lang=en

5. ̲ÃÐÀÖ²ß ßÊ ×ÈÍÍÈÊ ÐÎÇÂÈÒÊÓ Â ÓÊÐÀ¯Í²: Äîñë³äæåííÿ ô³íàíñîâèõ íàäõîäæåíü, ïîâ'ÿçàíèõ ç ì³ãðàö³ºþ, òà ¿õíüîãî âïëèâó

íà ðîçâèòîê â Óêðà¿í³, ̳æíàðîäíà îðãàí³çàö³ÿ ç ì³ãðàö³¿ (ÌÎÌ), Ïðåäñòàâíèöòâî â Óêðà¿í³, Kȯ – 2016

http://iom.org.ua/sites/default/files/mom_migraciya_yak_chynnyk_rozvytku_v_ukrayini.pdf

6. The 1951 Refugee Convention and Its 1967 Protocol http://www.unhcr.org/4ec262df9.html

7. First instance decisions on applications by citizenship, age and sex Annual aggregated data (rounded) , EUROSTAT

http://appsso.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/nui/show.do?dataset=migr_asydcfsta&lang=en

8. Óêðà¿íö³ çâåðòàþòüñÿ äî Ïîëüù³ ïðî ñòàòóñ á³æåíöÿ (29.08.2014), Ïîëüñüêå ðàä³î http://www.polradio.pl/5/198/Artykul/179792

9. ÊÀÊ ÃÐÀÆÄÀÍÈÍÓ ÓÊÐÀÈÍÛ ÏÎËÓ×ÈÒÜ ÓÁÅÆÈÙÅ Â ÈÒÀËÈÈ, Ìîÿ Èòàëèÿ http://miaitalia.info/view_article.php?id=1146

10. Persons subject of asylum applications pending at the end of the month by citizenship, age and sex Monthly data (rounded),

EUROSTAT http://appsso.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/nui/show.do?dataset=migr_asypenctzm&lang=en

11. Óêðà¿íñüê³ á³æåíö³ â ͳìå÷÷èí³: íà îñîáëèâîìó ðàõóíêó? (01.08.2015), Deutsche Welle Ukraine http://dw.com/p/1G8G7?tw

12. Asylum applications withdrawn by citizenship, age and sex Annual aggregated data (rounded), EUROSTAT

http://appsso.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/nui/show.do?dataset=migr_asywitha&lang=en

13. Äîñòóï äî ðèíêó ïðàö³ â ²òà볿, Living and working in Italy

http://www.integrazionemigranti.gov.it/Normativa/ProcedureItalia/Documents/faq%20lavoro%201/Lavoro%20-%20ucraino.pdf