World Bulletin, September 2022
International bodies and experts decried the unfair treatment of 1.1 million Syrian refugees by EU member states, who have welcomed more than 7 million Ukrainians in the seven months since the start of the Russia–Ukraine war this February. Syria has been embroiled in civil war for the last 11 years, since early 2011, when the Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests with unexpected ferocity.
The discriminatory policies of the EU have drawn criticism from organizations like the UN and Amnesty International. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said in a report released on Sept. 6 that 7.1 million Ukrainians have applied for refuge in EU members, especially in Germany, Poland, Hungary, and Romania. The country that accepted the most Ukrainians was neighboring Poland, with 2.5 million, followed by Hungary with 1.3 million and Germany with roughly one million. According to the report, more than 4 million Ukrainians were taken into temporary protection programs.
