Ukrainian Refugees in the Second Year of Full-Scale War

The full-scale Russian aggression against Ukraine, launched on February 24, 2022, caused millions of Ukrainians to seek refuge from the war in European Union (EU) countries and neighbouring states. In the initial days of the conflict, two primary types of migration movements emerged: internally displaced persons fleeing from eastern, southern, and northern regions of Ukraine to the western oblasts, and migration to EU countries. The latter movement involved Ukrainian citizens crossing not only the external border of the EU but, in some cases (e.g., Poland and Slovakia), also the external Schengen Zone border without the appropriate documentation. In response, on March 4, 2022, the European Union activated the Temporary Protection Directive. A year later, on September 27, 2023, temporary protection was extended until March 4, 2025 (this decision was formally adopted on October 19).

 The Temporary Protection Directive is a mechanism activated by the EU in exceptional circumstances involving a mass influx of displaced persons to ensure collective protection and to alleviate pressure on national asylum systems. Introduced in 2001 (Council Directive 2001/55/EC of July 20, 2001), it was originally designed in response to the large-scale refugee influx into the EU from Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo during the armed conflicts in the Western Balkans. In 2024, it was activated for the first time. As noted by Dr. Iryna Kozak-Balaniuk, the EU refrained from activating a similar mechanism during the 2015–2017 migration crisis, which involved migrants predominantly arriving in Italy and Greece due to the conflicts in Libya and Syria.

Poland, as an EU member state, was obligated to implement the Council of Europe’s decision, necessitating the adoption of domestic regulations providing legal grounds for Ukrainian citizens to reside in the country. Accordingly, on March 12, 2022, Poland enacted a special law known as the "Special Act," formally titled the Act on Assistance to Ukrainian Citizens in Connection with the Armed Conflict on the Territory of Ukraine. The law came into force on the day of its promulgation, retroactively effective from February 24, 2022. The Polish legislation focuses exclusively on Ukrainian citizens. As a supplementary legal basis, the Council’s decision of March 4, 2022, applies to third-country nationals who, prior to February 24, 2022, enjoyed international or equivalent national protection in Ukraine and their family members, as well as stateless persons and third-country nationals who can prove they resided legally in Ukraine before that date.

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