Local efforts to integrate displaced persons fleeing the Russian invasion of Ukraine: challenges and promising practices

Local authorities and communities across the EU are hosting people displaced from Ukraine after the Russian invasion according to the requirements of the Temporary Protection Directive and beyond. FRA is exploring the challenges that local authorities experience when implementing the Directive, focusing on access to housing, education, employment and healthcare. The research looks at 26 cities or regions hosting large numbers of temporary protection beneficiaries in 12 Member States. The report will identify challenges as well as effective and innovative measures taken to address these issues at local levels.
Project Status
Ongoing
Project start date
October
2022

What?

Local authorities and communities across the EU are hosting people displaced from Ukraine after the Russian invasion according to the requirements of the Temporary Protection Directive and beyond. FRA is exploring the challenges that local authorities experience when implementing the Directive, focusing on access to housing, education, employment and healthcare.

The research looks at 26 cities or regions hosting large numbers of temporary protection beneficiaries in 12 Member States: Austria, Belgium, Czechia, Estonia, France, Germany, Italy, Ireland, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Sweden. The report will identify challenges as well as effective and innovative measures taken to address these issues at local levels.

Data will be collected based on desk research, consultations with local authorities and a small-scale survey with local support service providers.

Why?

Since 24 February 2022, the European Union has experienced a mass influx of people fleeing the conflict in Ukraine. In response, the European Council has activated the 2001 EU Temporary Protection Directive through Council Implementing Decision (EU) 2022/382 of 4 March 2022 for the first time. The Directive defines the requirements for Member States to ensure beneficiaries’ access to suitable housing, education, employment and medical care, including assistance to be provided to persons with special needs, such as unaccompanied children or victims of torture, rape or other serious forms of violence.

The project aims at supporting the implementation of the Temporary Protection Directive at local level. Comparative data on local-level challenges and measures is limited and random. To address this gap, the project aims to provide visibility to the efforts and solutions found by local authorities to effectively ensure access to selected rights provided by the Directive, and encourage an exchange of good practices.

How?

The research will be based on

  • Desk research, relying primarily on public sources and
  • Consultations with two to three experts from local authorities in each of the selected cities/regions, carried out by FRANET, and
  • A small-scale survey with three to four support service providers per city/region, carried out by FRA.
See also