Poland
From 1 July, the Polish government will no longer pay each refugee 40 zlotys per day (approximately 600 rubles for food and shelter). informs Rzeczpospolita edition.
“We believe that many people in Poland have the ability to be independent and adapt,” Pavel Bossernacker, deputy head of the Ministry of the Interior and Administration, Spokesperson for Refugees, told TVP Info.
He noted that there will be exceptions: Ukrainian disabled people, pregnant women and mothers of large families will continue to receive payments.
One of the top Polish politicians, who asked not to be named, told Rzeczpospolita that after February 24, the government guaranteed payment for the first 60 days of their stay in the country, with a special law on aid to refugees from Ukraine. A month ago, this period was extended by another 60 days. Daily benefits sometimes reached 300 zł for adults and 500 zl for each child.
“We see many Ukrainians looking for and finding work. We want to encourage others to be active. “Four months of full provisioning is enough time in our opinion,” he said.
It is also planned to organize free Polish language education as well as further education courses for internally displaced persons. Representatives of the Polish authorities believe that two months is enough to get a job.
Piotr Długosz, a professor at the Pedagogical University in Krakow, told the publication that the withdrawal of aid could send a signal to refugees that “support is ending and it’s time to return to Ukraine.”
Since most immigrants do not want to “mind their own business” and find work, country authorities may also try to “end abuses” by their decision.
According to Polish border guards, more than 3.57 million refugees from Ukraine have arrived in Poland since February 24. Up to two million can choose this country as their permanent residence.
More than 150,000 internally displaced people settled in Krakow, Poland’s second largest city, which had a population of 780,000 before the refugee influx. As reported by the RMF radio station, from June 1, local authorities decided to cancel free travel on public transport for Ukrainian refugees.
From February 24, Ukrainian settlers will be able to use city trams and buses for free. The Krakow magistrate’s statement states that this is done “to support refugees with paperwork (to stay in Poland), job search and travel to places where assistance is provided”.
Polish Deputy Interior Minister Pavel Shefernaker said his country is running out of funds to support refugees.
“The costs we incur (for refugees from Ukraine) are billions, not millions of euros. Therefore, EU aid to countries helping refugees should also be billions, not millions of euros,” he said.
According to him, three months ago, the European Commission announced that it would allocate €144.6 million to Poland to help Ukrainian refugees, but Warsaw has not yet received this money. At the same time, the Polish government cannot help refugees with funds from EU funds that the country receives for targeted programs, as it cannot abandon planned projects.
“And the funds allocated by the EU from immigration funds are completely missing,” said Schefernaker.
Bulgaria
About 300,000 refugees from Ukraine entered Bulgaria after the start of Russia’s military special operation. According to the latest data, more than 90 thousand remain in the country.
Many internally displaced persons were placed in hotels on the Black Sea coast. At first they were paid BGN 40 (about €20) a day for care, but soon the government reduced the compensation for food and accommodation to BGN 15 (about €7.5). However, more than 500 hotels in the country have agreed to work for this amount.
However, as the holiday season, which is important for the Bulgarian economy, approaches, it has become clear that this cannot continue. The country’s authorities began to relocate Ukrainians from hotels to entertainment centers or cheap hotels, which caused their discontent. Some citizens of Bulgaria have started to express their anger at the behavior of immigrants on social networks, as they themselves live in worse conditions.
“Some refugees are making frivolous demands, insisting that they be placed in hotels in the first row of Black Sea resorts, that meat is included in the daily menu twice a week, and that there is a hairdryer in the sanitary facilities.”
– explained Mariana Tosheva, head of the State Refugee Agency.
Due to the resistance of the refugees, the Bulgarian government decided to abandon its program of moving the migrants inland, but to place everyone in need in special buffer centres. As Deputy Prime Minister Kalina Konstantinova stated, “Bulgaria can no longer afford to keep Ukrainian citizens in hotels on the seashore.”
In his opinion, instead of accepting help to “feel free and stand on his own feet”, Ukrainians “declared many private and personal desires that cannot be satisfied.”
It turned out that the conditions in the shelters offered to immigrants were “Spartan”. According to the website dnes.dir.bg, dissatisfied Ukrainians are hastily leaving the country. Thus, on May 31, a bus full of 35 people left Bulgaria and only one got in.
Other countries
Due to the lack of funds in Latvia, internally displaced persons from Ukraine are deprived of free food.
Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said at a press conference on 30 May that he would apply to the EU leadership for financial assistance to accommodate the refugees.
“At the moment the wave of refugees from Ukraine has weakened, but our capacities (for shelter) are already full. I will ask the (EU) to provide additional opportunities to assist the countries most affected by the migration wave. I mean financial aid,” he said.
They have to find work in Germany, where about 400 thousand Ukrainians come from. Most of them did not seek work, as refugees were paid more than 300 euros for care. However, from June, refugees will be registered at the employment center to find work.
Free travel on public transport for internally displaced persons has been canceled not only in Poland, but also in Switzerland, Germany and the Czech Republic.
According to the United Nations, as of May 29, Poland received the largest number of refugees – more than 3.6 million people. A total of 6.8 million people left Ukraine. About 1.6 million internally displaced people arrived in Russia, a source from law enforcement told TASS on the eve.