By Gabriela Baczynska
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – All EU countries must help provide for the millions of refugees fleeing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the bloc’s top migration official said, broaching the issue of shared responsibility for those seeking shelter that has long divided Europe.
The United Nations says some 3 million people, mostly women and children, have fled Ukraine as of Tuesday, the 20th day of an invasion that Russian President Vladimir Putin calls a special operation to disable Ukraine’s government and military.
“If we really show the best sides of ourselves in solidarity, we can manage (this challenge),” said the European Commissioner for Home Affairs, Ylva Johansson.
Her comments echo the hallmark phrase “Wir schaffen das” (“We can manage this”) of Germany’s then-chancellor, Angela Merkel, at the height of Europe’s previous major influx of refugees in 2015-16 when more than a million people fleeing the war in Syria reached the EU.
Ukraine’s western neighbour Poland has taken in some 1.7 million Ukrainian refugees so far, in sharp contrast to its stance during the previous crisis, when its Catholic, nationalist-minded government refused to host any of the mainly Muslim migrants and asylum seekers.
FEUDS
Europe’s biggest migration crisis since World War Two comes after years of bitter feuds between EU states over how to share the responsibility of providing for refugees.
The most contentious issue has been whether to oblige each EU country to take in people. Unable to agree, the EU has mostly focused on tightening its external borders since 2015 to keep out those from the Middle East and Africa.
Johansson said she hoped the help now being extended to those fleeing Ukraine would unlock a broader EU deal to reform its failed asylum system, a topic that has become politicaly toxic in the bloc and weakened its unity.
“Migration is something to manage, not to be afraid of,” she told a think-tank event.
The EU’s executive Commission has offered money to help eastern member states to host the bulk of Ukrainian refugees.
“We will mobilise billions of euros… to rebuild reception centres, mobile hospitals and schools for children and provide emplyment for adults or childcare facilities,” Commission head, Ursula von der Leyen told the European Parliament on Tuesday.
It remains unclear if and when most of the refugees will move elsewhere in Europe. As the numbers grow further, however, experts say the EU and national governments will have to help more, with relocations likely to cause political tensions.
(Additional reporting by Pawel Florkiewicz and Alicja Ptak, Writing by Gabriela Baczynska; Editing by Gareth Jones)
