‘Cat to the Guest House & Ukrainians to the Shelter’: Vacations Prompt 'Refugee Evictions' Across EU

Since Russia began its special military operation, around 3,514 refugees from Ukraine have been registered for Temporary Protection or similar EU schemes, showed data provided on June 21 by the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR).

Municipal shelters across the Netherlands are bracing to receive an influx of Ukrainians during the summer holidays, reported local media outlets.

While up until now Dutch families have been hosting the refugees fleeing their home country amid the Ukraine crisis, with vacations looming the situation is about to change. People are said to be wary of setting forth on holiday trips while leaving the Ukrainian ‘guests’ alone in their homes unattended, ANP reported.

“The cat goes to the guest house and the Ukrainians go to the shelter. Yes, that is the harsh reality,” an unnamed source was cited as saying.

A stream of refugees from Ukraine has been heading to the EU countries after Russia responded to a request for assistance from the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics (DPR and LPR) amid escalating attacks by Kiev authorities. Moscow began its military operation on February 24 to demilitarize and de-Nazify Ukraine, underscoring that it had no plans to occupy the country, with the operation exclusively targeting Kiev’s military infrastructure.

Over 5,000 individual refugees from Ukraine have been recorded across Europe since the conflict escalated, with 3,514 registered for Temporary Protection or similar EU schemes, showed data provided on June 21 by the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR).

Many are not necessarily fleeing areas of immediate military operations, as they hope to avail themselves of an opportunity to start a new life abroad.

However, families across the EU have also faced strain and exhaustion in their efforts to accommodate refugees from Ukraine, due to financial issues and language barriers. The “honeymoon period is over,” claimed the report, with frazzled hosts no longer wanting their guests.

“People say: I’m going on vacation and I don’t want the Ukrainians to be alone in my house. Sometimes the Ukrainians are really just dropped off at the shelter,” a spokesperson for the Brabant-Zuidoost safety region was quoted as saying.

To deal with the impending influx, municipalities have reportedly preparing additional shelter space for the Ukrainians.

Volunteers distribute food to Ukrainian refugees at a makeshift cafeteria in Berlin's central railway station (Hauptbahnhof) on March 8, 2022.

© JOHN MACDOUGALL

This comes as a plethora of host nations have since either cut or canceled benefits and subsidies initially offered to Ukrainians.

Around 3.6 million Ukrainians - equivalent to nearly 10 percent of the country’s population - fled to Poland in recent months, with millions making a bee-line for Russia, Romania, Germany, Hungary, Moldova, the Czech Republic, and other nations.

Currently, evictions are said to be taking place in coastal countries like Bulgaria, where hotels had been used as temporary shelters. The tourist season had prompted them to revisit their previous “generosity”.