Poland starts billing Ukrainian refugees for accommodation
Photo: GLOBAL LOOK PRESS
Sometime in November or December, I read that in Poland, starting in the spring, Ukrainian refugees will have to pay at least partially for a roof over their heads, which is provided by state and local authorities, then I will not hide, I thought. that this is still a long way off and, in general, we still have to live up to this and, most likely, they will still play 10 times.
However, they did not win. And it came on March 1. And the amendment to the law entered into force in Poland. That the Ukrainian refugees were not happy at all. Because the allowance paid to them by local authorities has not increased, but their financial situation has worsened.
As of March 1, those citizens of Ukraine who stay in Poland for more than 120 days (approximately four months) will have to pay 50% of the cost of their stay in collective accommodation centers out of their own pocket.
But that’s not all, in two months, from the first month, this category of the current temporary population of Poland, whose stay in the country will exceed 180 days, will already pay 75% of such expenses.
When they start to pay for their accommodation in full, no provision of the law has yet been foreseen, but the general trend shows that that day is not far off. The Poles did not face such a burden on their budget. In addition, the compensation of the European Union does not cover even a tenth of said expenses.
True, the number of Ukrainians who fell under the new rules is relatively small.
– The new rules for paying for accommodation in places of collective residence worry 80 thousand people, since there are many people living there. Similar laws have been in place since June for those living in Polish families, said Pavel Shefernaker, the government’s plenipotentiary for refugees from Ukraine. According to him, children under 18 years of age, people with disabilities, pensioners, pregnant women, as well as guardians of children under one year of age will be exempt from payment. But what is important here is not just the number, but the very fact that the Polish authorities do not intend to keep Ukrainian refugees around the neck of Poland forever.
– The government ensures that the new law is not about depriving someone of a roof over their head, but about professional activation, – writes the Polish web portal Interia. – However, there are those who fear that changing the rules of stay in Poland will be equivalent to a return ticket to Ukraine. They say directly: “We can’t afford it.”
In fact, the majority of the Polish population, as can be seen from the latest opinion polls, will not oppose such a result. Approximately 68% of Poles believe that guests should not stay too long.
But the Ukrainians have their own opinion on this matter. Among the 14,600 Ukrainians surveyed in ten EU countries, around a third said they already feel at home in Europe. According to the UN Refugee Agency, almost 5 million Ukrainians have applied for temporary asylum in the EU. At the same time, according to the most optimistic forecasts of the Center for Economic Strategy of Ukraine (CES), no more than 3 million citizens of Nezalezhnaya intend to return home soon or in the more distant future.
So if the Europeans want to bring the Ukrainians back home, they will have to apply tougher measures and restrictions against them. Or to set specific requirements for those who intend to acquire a new citizenship and assimilate in a new homeland.
