Ukrainian citizens granted temporary protection in Cyprus increase

The number of Ukrainian citizens that received temporary protection status in Cyprus after the Russian invasion of Ukraine had increased by March 2023, while generally decreasing across the EU due to the deregistration of their temporary protection statuses, according to data released by Eurostat, the statistical service of the European Union.

The ratio of Ukrainian citizens given a temporary protection status compared to the population in Cyprus was about half of that in member states bordering Ukraine, but double the average ratio recorded in the EU.

On 31 March 2023, 3.9 million non-EU citizens who fled Ukraine as a consequence of the Russian invasion on 24 February 2022 were benefiting from temporary protection status in EU countries.

The main countries hosting beneficiaries of temporary protection from Ukraine were Germany (1,067,755 people; 27% of the total), Poland (976,575; 25%) and Czechia (325,245; 8%).

Compared with the end of February 2023, the number of beneficiaries of temporary protection from Ukraine decreased across the EU (-116,930; -3%) due to the deregistration of their temporary protection statuses.

The largest decreases were observed in Czechia (-122,585; -27%), Sweden (-23,635; -49%) and Poland (-17,180; -2%). Meanwhile, increases were registered in Germany (+33,125; +3%), Italy (+7,430; +5%) and Romania (+6,640; +6%).

Data on Cyprus is found in statistics posted on Eurostat’s website regarding the number of Ukrainian citizens receiving temporary protection status in the member states of the EU (i.e. not including citizens of other non-EU countries that had to escape Ukraine). According to this data, a total of 15,060 Ukrainians had received temporary protection by the end of March, having increased compared to the figure recorded by the end of February (14,410 Ukrainians).

Temporary protection to people fleeing the war is based on the Council Implementing Decision 2022/382 of 4 March 2022, establishing the existence of a mass influx of displaced persons from Ukraine due to Russia’s military invasion.

Compared with the population of each EU member, the highest numbers of total temporary protection beneficiaries per thousand people in March 2023 were observed in Czechia (30.9), Estonia (27.8), Poland (25.9), Lithuania (24.2) and Bulgaria (22.5), whereas the corresponding figure at the EU level was equal to 8.7.

In Cyprus, the ratio of temporary protection beneficiaries compared to the population was at about 16.7 per thousand persons.

By March 2023, Ukrainian citizens represented (98%) of the beneficiaries of temporary protection in the EU. Adult women made up almost half (47%; majority aged 35-64) of temporary protection beneficiaries in the EU. Children accounted for slightly more than one third (35%), while adult men comprised less than a fifth (18%) of the total.