Czechia leads EU in Ukrainian refugees per capita

Czechia has the highest number of refugees from Ukraine with the temporary protection status per capita out of any European Union member, the Interior Ministry announced citing Eurostat data.

At the end of last year, there were more than 3.5 million temporary protection holders from Ukraine in EU countries. Half of them stayed in Germany and Poland, roughly one quarter in each, followed by Czechia with 11 percent.

Czechia has a population of 10.5 million, several times less than Germany’s 83.2 million or Poland’s 37.8 million. This means that when compared to the population, Czechia has taken in more refugees per person living in the country.

Russia invaded Ukraine one year ago on Feb. 24, 2022. This caused a wave of Ukrainian refugees to leave the country.

The EU decided in March 2022 to activate for the first time the rules enabling refugees to get temporary protection visas that enable refugees to have access to public health insurance, education, and the labor market.

EU countries first introduced temporary protection for one year, but in view of the continuing fights in Ukraine, they decided to extend the status last October until March 2024.

In Germany and Poland, 968,000 and 961,000 Ukrainian refugees, respectively, enjoyed temporary protection status at the end of last year. Czechia at that time provided temporary protection to over 432,000 refugees, Eurostat data show.

Spain, Bulgaria, and Italy followed with roughly 4 percent of the total, and the Netherlands accounted for 3 percent.

According to Czech Interior Ministry data, almost 500,000 war refugees from Ukraine have received temporary protection visas in Czechia. The ministry estimated at the end of 2022 that about one-fifth of them had already returned home.

The temporary protection extension will help gain more precise data on the real number of refugees staying in Czechia. As of Feb. 20, some 230,000 asked for the protection extension, ministry spokeswoman Klára Dlubalová said. Refugees from Ukraine may seek an extension of their temporary protection status in Czechia until the end of March.