Refugees from Ukraine who, after the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion, sought shelter in Poland in large numbers have increasingly been leaving the country in recent months.
According to Eurostat, Ukrainians are choosing Germany and other EU countries as their new place to live, RMF24 reports RMF24.
In July alone, the number of Ukrainian citizens with temporary protection status in Poland fell by 8,110 to 953,100. In June, another 6,300 Ukrainians left the country.
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Instead of Poland, refugees are increasingly choosing Czechia, where by the end of June around 381,000 people held this status. At the same time, in June nearly 1.29 million Ukrainians were living in Germany.
High figures for July were also recorded in Spain (272,300), Romania (219,400) and Slovakia (149,000). Overall, Ukrainians remain the largest group of people under temporary protection in the EU — they account for 98.5% of all respondents, and in June alone more than 24,000 Ukrainian citizens applied for this status.
- Attacks on Ukrainian citizens in Poland on the grounds of nationality are becoming more frequent. The authorities’ anti-Ukrainian rhetoric over the Volhynia tragedy has also contributed to the situation.
- Recently in the Polish city of Radom, eight men attacked three 20-year-old Ukrainians. Before the beating, one of the attackers questioned them about their background and began talking about the Volhynia tragedy.
- Earlier, two Ukrainian teenagers were attacked over their language. The brother and sister were subjected to aggression by adults simply because they were speaking Ukrainian to each other.
- Police also detained Polish women who attacked men, believing them to be Ukrainians. The incident took place in Poznań near a food outlet.