Europe turns colder towards Ukrainian refugees because of crisis

Europe has grown weary of accepting refugees from Ukraine and is gradually introducing legislative measures to crack down on illegal migrants, according to the Financial Times.

The FT article says the sheer numbers of refugees from Ukraine and elsewhere on the continent are striking.

As many as 4.4 million applications were submitted by Ukrainians from January to September 2022 for temporary protection in the EU, although hundreds of thousands are estimated to have returned, it said.

On top of that, EU countries plus Norway, Switzerland, Iceland and Liechtenstein are said to receive 680,640 applications for asylum from nationals of countries including Syria, Afghanistan and parts of Africa and Asia, up 54% from the same period the previous year, according to the EU asylum agency.

According to the article, as winter closes in on Europe and Russia sustains its bombardment of Ukrainian power and water facilities, EU member states are braced for many more Ukrainians to head back to member states.

"So far, Europe has maintained its open-door policy towards Ukrainian refugees, many of whom went back home after the initial Russian onslaught was repelled. But with reception facilities in many countries under severe strain and fears of a renewed Ukrainian exodus, tensions are rising between member states over how to handle irregular migrants, people who do not fulfill the legal requirements to enter a country, from other parts of the world", the material added.