Refugees from Ukraine: why France does not treat them all the same

Hush, let’s not talk too much about annoying subjects! On Ukraine, the time is unanimous. Whether it is the assistance to be provided to the authorities in the face of the Russian military offensive or the unreserved welcome to be offered to the inhabitants forced to leave the country to escape the armed operations, there is no question of leaving the line . President of the Republic (and candidate for his re-election), Prime Minister and ministers, all repeat it: Ukrainians who need protection will be welcomed, housed (and schooled in the case of children). Of the 26,000 people who arrived, 10,500 had already been granted a temporary residence permit on March 22, according to Jean Castex. But behind the beautiful agreement, the controversy swells. Associations denounce a “double weight, two measures” applied to displaced persons from Ukraine. Some – in particular foreign students – would not be entitled to the protection mechanism decided at European level from the first weeks of the conflict. What about? And how many are they? To analyse.

At the beginning of March, faced with the deterioration of the situation in Ukraine and the already very large number of people fleeing the country to neighboring states, it was urgent to find a legal framework protecting the Ukrainians, who, until then, can enter Europe without a visa, but cannot stay there for more than 90 days. The countries of the European Union decide to reactivate a directive dating from 2001. Born at the time of the war in the former Yugoslavia, never applied since, not even in 2015 during the influx of Syrian refugees, this text provides for granting displaced persons a one-year residence permit, which can be renewed three times. For the people concerned, the advantage is obvious: the procedure is faster and simpler than that of asylum and it does not oblige to make a cross on a return to the country in the long term. It also makes it possible to stay anywhere in the European Union, to access employment, housing and health insurance, to go to school for the youngest.

A European compromise, with its gray areas

But some states in eastern Europe – the most reluctant to take in refugees in recent years – are worried: they are ready to receive Ukrainians, but do not want to grant this temporary protection to nationals of third countries. Austria, Poland, Hungary express themselves in this sense during the discussions, the Austrian Prime Minister is asking in particular for “another system” to be applied to these people. Others, like the Luxembourg representative, reject any discrimination. “I am waiting for us to decide on temporary protection for all people coming from Ukraine, regardless of their skin color, language or religion,” warns the Grand Duchy’s Foreign Minister, Jean Asselborn. To obtain the unanimity of the Member States which will make the decision indisputable, a compromise is emerging. Ukrainians who can prove that they were in their country on February 24 will be entitled to temporary protection (a condition aimed at avoiding the regularization of illegal immigrants previously residing in Europe); foreigners who already have refugee status in Ukraine and those who can prove long-term residence there and are unable to return in safe and durable conditions to their country of origin.

Several categories are therefore de facto excluded from temporary protection. In particular, temporary workers and students who only had short-stay visas and all persons in an irregular situation on Ukrainian territory. The treatment made to them is left to the appreciation of the country in which they have found refuge. In France, the instructions sent to the prefects on March 10 remain very imprecise on the notion of “safe and sustainable conditions in the country of origin”. A priori, this concerns the countries to which an assisted return can be organized or to which deportations to the border are carried out. Simple for States like India or Morocco which intervened to repatriate their nationals, but what about countries like Algeria, always reluctant to take back its exiles, or people from unstable countries like Afghanistan or Syria?

It is difficult to know the number of people affected by these exclusions as the situation is still unclear. All destination countries combined, the International Organization for Migration estimated a few days ago at 186,000 the number of third-country nationals who had fled Ukraine, for a total of 3.5 million displaced persons. In France, the figures that circulate are very variable. On March 9, an article in Le Figaro headlined: “One in three non-Ukrainians among refugees in France” and triggered a controversy. He lets it be understood that many opportunists have slipped in among the displaced persons from Ukraine, wanting to take advantage of the confusion that reigns in the region to obtain a residence permit in France. Not sourced, he nevertheless delivers very precise figures: “The latest arrivals include more than 7.5% Algerians, 3.5% Ivorians, 3.5% Moroccans, 2.5% Indians, 2 5% Kyrgyz, 2% Congolese, 1.5% Cameroonian, 1% Pakistani, but also Nigeriens, Chinese, Guineans, Angolans”. The article concludes with this question: “Do we find among these people migrants that Poland was trying to push back last November, at the Belarusian border, with the support of Paris?”

In these times of the electoral campaign where the migration issue has long been central, the data hits the mark. It is taken up on the right and on the extreme right. A senior official from the Ministry of the Interior confirms the figure, while specifying: “It was true at the beginning, then it went down with the arrival of the Ukrainians who had remained near the border to wait for members of their families and now join France”. The government has very officially communicated on a rate of 2.5% of non-Ukrainians in arrivals, but here again, it is difficult to verify this, especially since certain prefectures, that of the Alpes-Maritimes for example, make state of refoulement at the borders, in particular at Menton. “The reality is that we don’t know how many there are or can be,” admits a government official.

The executive navigates in the fog. On the one hand, it does not rule out forced returns to the countries of origin of those who do not meet the criteria. On the other, it grants a one-month residence permit to those whose situation is unclear, the time for further examination, and recalls that those excluded from temporary protection can also apply for asylum. A “at the same time” more acrobatic than ever as the first round approaches, in a campaign where the right and left opponents of candidate Macron are desperately looking for an angle of attack that finally carries.