Over three years since escaping Russia’s extensive attack on Ukraine, many Ukrainian refugees in France are now confronting a different kind of apprehension: shrinking allocations and diminishing political backing.
While Germany and Poland still take in most of those escaping the war, France takes in only 55,000 Ukrainians under the EU’s “temporary protection” scheme, in contrast to 1.18 million in Berlin alone.
As of March 2022, temporary protection status has enabled Ukrainians to avoid the customary asylum procedure and gain access to rights like work permits, health care, children’s schooling, and asylum petitioner funding of up to €426 a month. The French scheme, which was scheduled to expire in March 2025, was ultimately unfolded until March 2026 as a result of the continuing war.
But the longer the war continues and the higher the economic pressure, the more difficult it becomes for the French government to sustain its support for Ukrainian refugees.
A significant issue is housing. Following Russia’s full-scale invasion, the French government set up over 19,500 emergency shelter spots for Ukrainians. However, as reported by the NGO La Cimade, these numbers have sharply decreased: 13,000 spots in 2023, 9,000 in 2024, and just 4,000 in 2025.
The government initiated a rental intermediation program named ILM, which allowed NGOs and organisations to sublease private flats to vulnerable Ukrainian families. Approximately 30,000 residences were offered, but this system is also suffering now.
According to a government notice issued by French Prime Minister François Bayrou in December 2024, only 11,000 ILM positions will be funded in 2025, short of the amount required. The second problem is that although the organisations that offer the flats to refugees initially have to lay out money to sublet them, their own allocations are being stretched to the limit.
Additionally, the temporary protection scheme framework is currently being evaluated. French sources have been encouraging Ukrainian refugees to seek asylum. Those under the temporary scheme cannot access specific social aid types, including the RSA (active solidarity income) or support for the indigent. As the war drags on, the situation of temporary protection increasingly feels like an endless limbo.
Since January 2022, Paris has invested €4.32 billion to support Ukrainian refugees. In February, the Parliament approved a long-awaited and controversial budget plan for 2025, targeting a massive €30 billion reduction while increasing taxes by €20 billion to restrict France’s deficit to 5.4% of GDP this year. With state-supported assistance programs facing challenges, a growing number of Ukrainians are seeking asylum.
In 2024, France saw over 11,800 first-time asylum requests from Ukrainians, a fourfold increase compared to the previous year, positioning Ukraine as the second-largest source of asylum petitioners after Afghanistan. However, this situation presents challenges.
Unlike temporary protection, having a refugee situation prohibits individuals from returning to their home country. Concurrently, intentions among Ukrainians to return home have significantly declined, dropping from 52% in 2023 to just 31% in 2024, as reported by the EU Agency for Asylum.
