Two and a half months into Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the EU has welcomed more than four million Ukrainians by activating an existing piece of EU legislation that gives them immediate protection and the right to work. The temporary protection directive (TPD), designed for the mass arrival of refugees, allows Ukrainians to sidestep the bloc’s cumbersome asylum processes.
While the EU’s invocation of the TPD has rightfully been lauded, its treatment of Ukrainian refugees contrasts sharply with the deterrence and externalisation of asylum seekers in recent years. “The TPD is a very different approach compared to what has been the strategy of the EU and many European countries for the last five years. That strategy is based on prevention of arrivals regardless of the costs or consequences,” said Catherine Woollard, the director of the European Council on Refugees and Exiles, a network of NGOs.
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