The Council of Europe’s Division on Migration and Refugees (DMR) has published a new thematic paper entitled: Temporary protection and beyond: a human rights assessment of current and future European policies for displaced people from Ukraine.
The European Union’s Temporary Protection Directive – activated for the first time in response to Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine in 2022 and the subsequent forced displacement of civilians – marked a new chapter in European co-operation on international protection. Several Council of Europe member states outside the European Union introduced comparable national protection schemes for people displaced from Ukraine.
This thematic paper critically assesses how temporary protection has upheld the human rights of persons displaced from Ukraine, across countries and over time. The analysis focuses on core socio-economic rights, the right to seek and enjoy asylum, the right to family life and protection from discrimination in the enjoyment of rights. It also discusses the potential implications for human rights of emerging national proposals for transitioning individuals beyond the temporary protection framework into alternative immigration statuses based on work, study, family and humanitarian grounds, or towards voluntary return.
The paper’s conclusions and recommendations emphasise that the diverse needs, circumstances and aspirations of persons displaced from Ukraine require policies that facilitate the full range of transition options, including long-term residence and human rights compliant voluntary return based on well-informed decisions. Given recent trends to reduce and condition socio-economic support for temporary protection beneficiaries, renewed commitment is required of European states to safeguard, in particular, the rights of the most vulnerable.
Thematic papers and other publications - Division on Migration and Refugees
