Nearly 20,000 Ukrainians have taken refuge in Cyprus

Cyprus has one of the largest proportion of refugees from Ukraine who have been granted temporary protection status since the Russian invasion, with 20.7 people per thousand population, according to data released on Friday by Eurostat.

According to the latest figures, by 30 November 2023, a total of 4.27 million third-country nationals forced to leave Ukraine due to the Russian invasion were living in the EU under temporary protection.

By the end of November, 19,080 of those forced to flee Ukraine had taken refuge in Cyprus. Compared to October, when the number stood at 18,635 people, there was an increase of 445 people in Cyprus.

Of the persons in Cyprus by the end of November, 3,585 were adult males and 10,425 were adult females, while a total of 5,070 were children.

Cyprus meanwhile had one of the highest ratios of persons under temporary protection status with 20.7 persons per 1000 population, compared to the EU average ratio of 9.5 persons per 1000.

The countries hosting the largest proportions of refugees from Ukraine up to November were Germany (1,235,960 persons or 28.9 per cent of the EU total), Poland (955,110 persons, 22.3 per cent) and the Czech Republic (369,330 persons, 8.6 per cent).

Compared to the end of October, the largest increases in absolute numbers of beneficiaries were recorded in Germany (+20,595, +1.7 per cent), the Czech Republic (+4,880, +1.3 per cent) and Norway (+4,180, +6.9 per cent).

Among EU member states, the number of beneficiaries fell slightly in four countries: Poland (-5,510 persons, -0.6 per cent), Italy (-160 persons, -0.1 per cent), France (-125 persons, -0.2 per cent) and Luxembourg (-15 persons, -0.4 per cent).

The figures refer to the temporary protection status for refugees from Ukraine granted on the basis of an EU Council decision in March 2022, which in September 2023 was extended until March 2025.

Also at the end of November, Ukrainian citizens accounted for over 98 per cent of beneficiaries of temporary protection. Adult women accounted for 46.3 per cent of beneficiaries of temporary protection in the EU, children accounted for 33.3 per cent, while adult men accounted for 20.4 per cent of the total.