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Wed, 06 Aug, 2014 12:03:57 AM Estonia reports more asylum applications from Ukraine FTimes-STT-Xinhua Report, August 6  File picture of a young boy holds a loaf of bread as residents of the eastern Ukrainian city of Lysychansk queue to receive bread distributed as part of humanitarian aid on July 27, 2014. Ukrainian troops have retaken the strategically-important city of Lysychansk in eastern Ukraine, as they press on with their offensive to stamp out a pro-Russian rebellion. Photo – AFP / Lehtikuva. More than 100 Ukrainians have applied for asylum in the country, reported the Finnish-language daily Keskisuomalainen.
The figure is significant, because last year only five such applications were submitted by Ukrainians.
All the applicants have come to Finland as seasonal workers.
In all, about 7,000 Ukrainians are entitled visa to come and work as seasonal workers in the country.
The system will be heavily overloaded, if all the seasonal workers would resort to do the same as the 102 applicants have done already, said Esko Repo, director of the asylum unit at Finnish Immigration Service.
It costs 40 euros a day to accommodate one asylum-seeker at the reception centre.
There is no information on the exact figure of those of who have fled Ukraine since the onset of the current crisis in that country.
Towards the end of July, Russia announced that it had given asylum to as many as 230,000 Ukrainians.
News agency Xinhua adds: The Estonian authorities on Tuesday reported increased asylum applications from Ukrainian citizens.
Maiga Lepp from the Estonian migration office told local media that some 20 asylum applications had been made by Ukrainian citizens since the start of the security crisis in the country late last year.
For comparison, there were only a few such applications before the crisis in Ukraine.
The authorities said most applicants hailed from the regions of Luhansk, Donetsk and Crimea. In many cases, the Ukrainian citizens had friends and relatives in Estonia.
According to official statistics, Ukrainians are the third largest group in Estonia after native Estonians and Russians.
“Their applications are still under consideration and no decisions have been made so far. If the government makes a positive decision, the person will receive a temporary residence permit,” said Lepp.
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| Thursday, 27 March, 2025 |
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