Ukrainian minors, the European Union has so far given shelter to a number equal to over 1.2 million young and very young people. This is a population greater than the residents of Basilicata and Molise combined. Or, wanting to take the Piedmont region alone as a term of comparison, the equivalent of the inhabitants of the provinces of Alessandria, Asti and Cuneo.
This is another aspect of the war in Ukraine, contained in Eurostat numbers on asylum granted to Ukrainian citizens since the beginning of the conflict. However, numbers are downwards, because they were updated in November 2022. From March to November there were just over a million males and females under the age of 14, to which must be added 262 thousand aged between 14 and 17.
War Russia Ukraine, today’s news
To tell the truth, the European statistical institute releases data relating to the month of November only, and here it emerges that in the month under examination Germany granted the largest number of temporary protections to Ukrainian minors (people under 18) with a total of 10,495 approved requests (29% of the total), followed by Poland (9,105, or 23%), Romania (3,450, or 32%) and Italy (2,210, 29%). But scrolling through the overall database, it is possible to reconstruct the «history» of the requests for international protection granted throughout the year which has now ended. The fact that catches the eye, in addition to a population of minors equal to two Italian regions, is the decrease in the flows of asylum seekers.
Nearly half of all underage Ukrainian citizens arrived in March (573,205), soon after the Russian aggression began. A number that has decreased over the months, to drop to 30,965 in November 2022, the last month for which data is available. Which in any case refer to the 27 countries of the European Union.
Non-EU countries Iceland, Norway and Lichtenstein have also offered help to people fleeing the war. In these three non-EU states there are 33,500 Ukrainian minors. It is as if the entire population of Casale Monferrato had moved elsewhere, emptying the municipality.
These are the numbers of the war drama. But at the same time, these are the numbers that testify to how the Europe of states is preserving the future of Ukraine by protecting its children and its new generations. This was possible by implementing the Temporary Protection Directive. In force since 2001, it provides, in crisis situations, to grant immediate reception and protection through leaner and faster bureaucratic-administrative procedures, and immediately recognizing the possibility of staying on EU soil for 12 months, up to a maximum of 36 months , and giving the opportunity to study and work. Before the Russian-Ukrainian conflict this legislation had never been used.