Ireland wants to terminate contracts for housing Ukrainian refugees and introduce payments for their return home

Ireland intends to terminate, within a year, accommodation contracts for around 16,000 Ukrainian citizens and launch a policy aimed at their return home.

This was stated by Migration Minister Colm Brophy, according to the British newspaper The Sunday Times.

Brophy said that the Irish authorities intend to reduce Ukrainians’ dependence on local state support.

“We want to end a situation in which 16,000 people continue to rely on us. No other EU country provides such conditions,” the official said.

According to Brophy, the timeline for the upcoming changes has already been set:

“They will have to leave, because we are terminating the contracts… I want the relevant order to be implemented within the next 12 months,” the minister уточнил.

The Irish authorities are discussing either the complete cancellation of the temporary protection directive for Ukrainian citizens or the introduction of a restriction under which assistance would be provided only to residents of the most heavily affected regions. At the same time, a voluntary return program is being prepared, with incentive payments of up to €2,500 per person and up to €10,000 per family.

Brophy called such measures “generous” and noted that they are comparable to the support provided to refugees upon their arrival.

“It is quite logical to respond generously by giving people the opportunity to return,” the head of the migration department explained.

As a reminder, since February 2022, more than 125,000 Ukrainians have received temporary protection in Ireland. The relevant EU directive is due to expire in March next year.

As previously reported, the European Union is discussing tighter rules for accepting refugees from Ukraine after 2027.

Earlier, the Czech Republic wanted the EU to stop accepting refugees from Western Ukraine and able-bodied men from other regions.