Latest news with #TemporaryProtectionDirective
Straits Times
19 hours ago
- Politics
- Straits Times
Germany plans to cut benefits for newly arrived Ukrainian refugees, draft law shows
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox People arrive at the accommodation centre for refugees from Ukraine, as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues, at the former Tegel airport in Berlin, Germany, May 17, 2023. REUTERS/Michele Tantussi/File Photo BERLIN - Germany's coalition government plans to cut state benefits for newly-arrived Ukrainian refugees, a draft law seen by Reuters showed on Wednesday, which could result in 100 euros ($116)less per month per refugee, according to estimates. Ukrainian refugees arriving in Germany benefit from the European Union's Temporary Protection Directive, which enables them to directly claim welfare benefits without going through the asylum process. Under the draft bill, Ukrainians arriving in Germany from April 1, 2025, would no longer receive Citizen's Allowance but instead receive benefits under the Asylum Seekers' Benefits Act, which are lower. There are around 1.25 million refugees from Ukraine living in Germany, and around 21,000 entered the country for the first time in connection with the Russian invasion between April 1 and June 30, 2025, according to government figures. The draft law requires cabinet and upper house of parliament approval before coming into effect by the end of the year. Germany has long been debating what level of support Ukrainian refugees should receive, as it struggles to make savings on welfare spending, with Bavarian Premier Markus Soeder on Sunday calling for all Ukrainian refugees, not just new arrivals, to be excluded from the higher benefits. Approximately 64.1% of the labour agency registered Ukrainian nationals in July 2025 were not employed, including those jobless, in courses, or receiving employment-related support. REUTERS
Local Sweden
30-07-2025
- Politics
- Local Sweden
Can Kristersson convince Swedish voters to give him a second term?
It's been a tough couple of years for leaders of western democracies: incumbents in France, Germany, the UK and the US have all recently taken a whipping at the polls. As things stand, Sweden's Ulf Kristersson is in line for a similar beating when the country goes to the polls in September next year. Advertisement Kristersson came to power in 2022 amid rising anti-immigration sentiment, concern over gang violence and an expansionist Russia. Inflation was at its highest level for decades and growth was sluggish. Three years later and gang violence continues, the economy remains shaky and the world is no more stable, so it's perhaps not surprising that polls show an expanding lead for the four opposition parties, averaging around 9 points, up from 7 points a year ago. Yet Kristersson will be able to point to some key areas where his government could argue it has succeeded: Gang crime Getting a grip on gangland violence was at the heart of the government's agenda, and for good reason: murders involving firearms have been roughly three times higher in Sweden than the European average. The government has reacted by shovelling more money to the police, introducing stop-and-search zones, by making secret surveillance of criminals easier and by proposing tougher sentencing. Many of these measures are still to take effect: a proposal to double sentences for gang-related crimes won't be in place until after the election. So far it's hard to discern a clear impact of government policy on gang crime rates: the number of shootings so far in 2025 is lower both than in the same period last year and in 2021 (the year before the government took power), but the number of deaths is actually higher. Still, there are signs that secret surveillance has been effective and, thanks partly to structural changes in the police force, 70 percent of gangland murders now result in charges, compared to about 30 percent previously. All this is good news for Kristersson: according to pollster Novus his Moderate Party is most trusted on law and order issues, closely followed by the Sweden Democrats. Nonetheless, the government could be vulnerable to any upswing in gangland violence in the run-up to the election. Advertisement Immigration Immigration, judged on the government's own terms, has also ostensibly been a success story. In 2024 Sweden received fewer than 7,000 asylum seekers (excluding Ukrainians covered by the EU's Temporary Protection Directive). At just 0.6 asylum seekers per 1,000 inhabitants, this was a lower figure than most major western European countries. Asylum applications were down again in the first half of this year, thanks partly to a new law that prevents failed asylum seekers from making new applications. Government reforms to labour immigration have been more of a mixed bag, with government claims to want to promote high-skilled labour migration sometimes being undermined by poorly-designed rules. Frustratingly for many labour immigrants, voters are less exercised by the plight of skilled workers than they are about the perceived need to stop asylum seekers coming to Sweden. All this looks likely to benefit the Sweden Democrats: overall, voters rate Jimmie Åkesson's party most highly on the issue, with 31 percent telling Novus they have the best migration policies, followed by the Social Democrats on 19 percent, with the Moderates languishing on 11 percent. Kristersson would no doubt like to shave a few points off the Sweden Democrats' lead here — if the Sweden Democrats leapfrog the Moderates and become the largest right-wing party would severely dent the Moderates' self-image. Advertisement The economy The economy is a slightly cheerier story for the Moderates, with the party thought best by 27 percent. But they'll be frustrated that the Social Democrats pip them at the post, scoring 30 percent. The Social Democrats are also ahead on unemployment, which has remained persistently high, but the Moderates have a big lead when voters are asked who has the best policies for business. Moderate finance minister Elisabeth Svantesson will be hoping for some good news before the election: inflation might be down from its post-pandemic highs, but it's still above the Riksbank's 2 percent target. Growth, at 1 percent on an annual basis, is lower than many comparable European countries. The latest trade deal with the US, cementing tariffs at a relatively high 15 percent, might prove unhelpful to Sweden's export-dependent economy. The Moderates will hope a series of cuts to income tax and taxes on savings accounts — and the threat of tax rises from Magdalena Andersson — will get right-leaning voters to turn out for them. Defence One issue that the government will be pressing hard is defence: the government has overseen a massive increase in defence spending and took Sweden into Nato. Defence minister Pål Jonsson is one of the government's most effective performers and Swedes broadly back the government's strong pro-Ukraine stance. But while the Moderates have a handsome lead among voters on defence issues, the Social Democrats are unlikely to propose a radically different line, perhaps making it hard for Kristersson to press home the advantage. Advertisement Subjects to avoid: climate and healthcare A few crucial questions could prove particularly troublesome for the government if they become a focus of the election campaign. The Social Democrats have a commanding lead on healthcare questions, which voters consistently rate as their most important issue. On climate issues the Liberals' minister Romina Pourmouktari has seemingly failed to convince voters that her party has the answers, with just 3 percent saying they have the best policies, compared to the Greens who convinced 28 percent. With thirteen months left until the election, much can change in the polls. Ulf Kristersson and his party will be hoping voters will be ready to give them a hearing.
Local Sweden
28-07-2025
- Politics
- Local Sweden
Number of asylum applications to Sweden drops 30 percent
The number of people applying for asylum in Sweden in the first six months of this year has dropped 30 percent compared to the same period last year, according to new statistics from the Migration Agency. Advertisement Between January and June this year, 3,750 people applied for asylum in Sweden compared to 5,357 in the same period of 2024, a fall the agency put down to a new law which came into force that means that a person whose asylum application has been rejected cannot submit a new application until they have been outside Sweden (and usually the Schengen zone) for at least five years. "Sweden's attractiveness as a recipient country continues to decline in line with the political reforms implemented in the area of migration. The EU's asylum and migration pact is also expected to lead to fewer asylum seekers in the coming years," Maria Mindhammar, the agency's director general, said in a press message. The agency is now predicting that around 6,500 apply for asylum in 2025, 500 fewer than it predicted in its last forecast. The agency then expects the number of applications to fall further to 5,500 in 2026, a reduction of 1,300 compared to the former forecast, from 6,000 to 5,000 in 2027 and from 5,500 to 4,500 in 2028. When it comes to individual countries, the agency noted that the number of Syrians applying for asylum in Europe had fallen 60 percent in the first six months of this year, following the fall of the Assad regime in December, which had helped lead to a 35 percent reduction in applications to Sweden from Syrians in the same period. Applications from Afghanistan, Turkey and other Middle East and North African countries have also been lower than expected. Advertisement As The Local has already reported, the agency also said in the forecast that it expected a marked slowdown in the number of citizenship applications it can process due to the additional security checks imposed last year. These figures, however, exclude people from Ukraine applying to live in Sweden under the Temporary Protection Directive. Sweden expects approximately 9,000 people to seek protection under the Temporary Protection Directive in Sweden this year, the same as in its last prognosis. In 2027, and it expects 7,000 people will seek temporary protection. 'Our main scenarios assume that the war in Ukraine continues with approximately the same intensity and geographical spread as today. But the situation is unpredictable and we also take into account that the conflict may develop in a way that leads to more or fewer people seeking protection in Sweden,' Eric Ramstedt, Planning Director at the Swedish Migration Agency said in a press release. Advertisement The European Union has extended the Temporary Protection Directive March 2027, and it is currently uncertain if it will receive another extension at that date. Approximately 45,000 people are currently living in Sweden under the directive and the Migration Agency Board expects approximately 20 percent of them to return to Ukraine, with the remaining 36,000 people expected to apply for a residency permit on another basis, leading to a a growing burden on the agency. "The consequence of this would be a sharp increase in the number of applications in other types of cases, especially asylum and the work permit cases," Ramstedt said.
The Journal
19-06-2025
- Politics
- The Journal
Sinn Féin criticised for 'heartless' opposition to extending temporary protection for Ukrainians
SINN FÉIN HAS been heavily criticised for its opposition to extending temporary protection to those fleeing the war in Ukraine, with a Ukrainian charity arguing its position is 'heartless and inhumane'. Last week, the party's migration spokesperson Matt Carthy said the government's decision to support a planned extension to the temporary protection directive until March 2027 was a 'mistake'. The Cavan Monaghan TD said it is 'now time to treat those fleeing war in Ukraine the same as all others fleeing war and persecution'. He argued that a person who benefits from temporary protection should be supported to return to Ukraine, if they are from a part of the country that is 'found to be safe' and that there should be a return to 'ordinary, permanent immigration rules which apply to all other states'. Responding to Sinn Féin's stance, one of the founders of Ukrainian Action, a charity in Ireland, said it was a 'very irresponsible' and 'heartless' position held by the main opposition party. Anatoliy Prymakov said that while it is true that some parts of Ukraine have been targeted more by Russia than others, it is a 'very irresponsible and heartless thing to say that parts of Ukraine are safe'. 'Russians have been known to target residential districts, maternity wards, children's hospitals and even funerals to exert maximum damage on the civilian population as part of their terror campaign of bombardment of Ukraine. 'Because of that, there is simply no guarantee that Russians will not target a specific city in Ukraine tomorrow, simply to murder civilians, as they have been doing since 2014,' Prymakov said. He added: 'It is disappointing and troubling that an elected TD, with a key position in his party, would take such a heartless and inhumane position. Advertisement 'Such statements hurt Ukrainians and are not productive, nor do they help with problems faced by Ukrainian beneficiaries of temporary protection and Irish communities supporting those Ukrainians.' Sinn Féin's position was also criticised by Green Party leader and former Minister for Integration Roderic O'Gorman who said moving thousands of Ukrainians living in Ireland into the international protection process would be 'completely unworkable'. He said it would 'entirely swamp a system that is already struggling'. 'There is still a full-scale war taking place in Ukraine, so it is appropriate that we extend the temporary protection directive to provide support for Ukrainians here in Ireland and across Europe,' he added. Extension of current system The Temporary Protection Directive, a legal framework for hosting people displaced by war in Ukraine, was extended last year until March 2026. Earlier this month, the EU proposed extending the right for four million Ukrainians to stay in the bloc until 2027. The European Commission has urged EU governments to look at longer-term solutions, such as residency, work and student permits and visas. Governments in the EU have also been encouraged to set up programmes to promote voluntary return programmes to Ukraine. To offer a more stable and lasting perspective beyond temporary protection, the Commission has also proposed a set of measures to prepare a coordinated transition out of temporary protection. It is expected that integration into host countries and facilitating a smooth return to Ukraine will be promoted, with information hubs to be set up to provide guidance on integration and return options. Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation. Learn More Support The Journal
Yahoo
13-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
EU Council supports prolonging temporary protection status for Ukrainians by March 2027
The EU Justice and Home Affairs Council in Luxembourg adopted a political decision on 13 June to extend the Temporary Protection Directive for Ukrainians until 4 March 2027 and discussed recommendations for action after the temporary protection expires. Source: press service for the EU Council Details: The EU Council decided to extend temporary protection for Ukrainians until 4 March 2027. After its expiry, Ukrainian citizens should be able to either remain in their country of residence with a new status or return to their homeland. It was noted that the final decision on the extension of temporary protection must be formally approved within a few weeks of agreeing on the technical details, such as translation. The EU Council's recommendations to member states will be approved with some delay, also due to technical issues. Background: As previously reported by European Pravda, the European Commission has proposed draft recommendations to the EU Council that will allow member states to prepare for the coordinated termination of temporary protection for Ukrainians. They will be offered either a transition to a new legal status in their country of residence or assistance in returning home. The list of proposed recommendations can be found here. Ukrainian Ambassador to the EU Vsevolod Chentsov also told European Pravda that temporary protection for Ukrainians in the EU will be extended for another year. As of 31 March 2025, just over 4.26 million people who are not EU citizens and fled Ukraine as a result of full-scale Russian aggression had temporary protection status in the European Union. Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon!
